Thread: Classifieds/Honing Services

Great read Utopian. The moral of the story is don't be a schmuck! Maybe the moral of the story on honeing is that the "dad" (Lynn) of SRP should be the only one who could bestow the title of "honemeister" to someone. Kind of like a knight of the stones. For real though, if Lynn or one of the true honemeisters were to send me a random number of razors and I were to send them back by a specific time frame for "testing". Just a rambling thought...sorry.

I cannot think of any way to "rate" how good someone is at honing a razor.

If you are new, 30 minutes on this site will give you a great idea who to use.

My take is this: it is only those who are relatively new to the forums and who have not had the opportunity to delve into the community (or have not been bothered to) who would not know who the established and respected honers and meisters are on our forum.

If you are not prepared to put in the time to find out something as important as who can impart an edge that will not wipe your face off the bone, then you deserve what you get IMO. It is not hard to find out, it just requires some effort and time/perseverance. Two things that if lacking in your person, make you wholly unsuited for the pursuit of straight razor shaving anyway.

James.

Originally Posted by Jimbo

My take is this: it is only those who are relatively new to the forums and who have not had the opportunity to delve into the community (or have not been bothered to) who would not know who the established and respected honers and meisters are on our forum.

If you are not prepared to put in the time to find out something as important as who can impart an edge that will not wipe your face off the bone, then you deserve what you get IMO. It is not hard to find out, it just requires some effort and time/perseverance. Two things that if lacking in your person, make you wholly unsuited for the pursuit of straight razor shaving anyway.

James.

That's what I was said, I just didn't know how to translate it into Australian!

I have thought about this myself. The problem is, even with experience, honing is so subjective. I think experienced shavers will begin to prefer a certain style/ way of honing over another. I know I do myself. That said, it doesn't make member X a less than honer just because I prefer member Y's edges. There are some members that don't charge and offer services that can put a very insanely sharp edge on a blade. And, sadly, the exact opposite is also true. So, there is no right answer. Some people will just have a talent and may, in say, 6 months be able to consistently place a shaving sharp edge on many razors. Is it fair to say one must be honing for 2 years and have honed 500 razors in order to be a certified honer by SRP?

Well, there is a thought...have a panel of "judges".

A new honemeiser approaches the "bench" and offers up his/ her work. It is mailed to judge one, which notates and mails to judge 2, etc. down the line. To keep things fair, have it go through a panel of oh...10 judges, by various degrees. Meaning some on the "panel" are known honesters and others are not, just regular straight shavers. That way as to get expert opinions and alleviate bias. Sure, it would take a while to get through, but the honemeister tag would be "earned". This way people could really trust they will be getting a good edge. Anyone wanting to offer services with any amount of integrity will be okay with this verification process. Then they are a certified honer. Gosh, I amaze myself. Furthermore, someone going through the ranks can have all sorts of advice from experienced honesters and ordinary shavers as to how their razors are doing. Picking up tips, etc. along the way.

Originally Posted by shooter74743

Great read Utopian. The moral of the story is don't be a schmuck! Maybe the moral of the story on honeing is that the "dad" (Lynn) of SRP should be the only one who could bestow the title of "honemeister" to someone. Kind of like a knight of the stones. For real though, if Lynn or one of the true honemeisters were to send me a random number of razors and I were to send them back by a specific time frame for "testing". Just a rambling thought...sorry.

Now there's a solution....

Perhaps before someone is allowed to offer services for a fee, such as honing, restorations etc, the member must submit examples of their work to senior members (like Lynn, Glen, so forth) for inspection. If they feel the members work is up to snuff they are then allowed to advertise their service.

Sounds draconian and all, but in the interests of preserving the integrity here at SRP it might be an idea.

Dammit Rick, you beat me to it! And with a more well thought out plan as well.....

This same subject of a judging panel has been discussed before and the upshot is, it's just not practical.

***Looks at the calendar "hmmm yep been about 8 months"

Sorta J/K

This comes up about every 8 months or so...

I have never thought of a solution that would work, but I do know that offering free honing on a one to one basis to someone struggling is not against any rule here in fact it is the true spirit of this forum...
In fact if that spirit is picked up by people here, everything seems to work out just fine and has always been that way...

Wanna hone???? offer to help, that person will let others know and it grows from there....
That is exactly what Joe Chandler told me at this site when I joined, and it worked out pretty darn good... I didn't do anything but offer my help, and pretty soon, people were asking me for help...
I never offered restores either, I just did my own, and offered some up, for some of the giveaways, and pretty soon people were asking me for restores...
If you just take the time to help which is what SRP is all about, it all comes together...

Now maybe I am a bit naive, but in my eyes if you do good work, and treat people fair they will come and find you....

As to an SRP sponsored "Honemeister badge".... there is one, Lynn has is...
look under his name


Edit: I have no solution to the idea of the "Panel" it always sounds good and rather easy but OMG what a nightmare it could really be..
Now maybe as the Meets grow, that might make it possible...

Originally Posted by Utopian

This same subject of a judging panel has been discussed before and the upshot is, it's just not practical.

Perhap. But neither is letting members openly advertise their services knowing that they are (possibly) ripping people off. The feedback solution is another possibility, but as it was pointed out, that is hard to moderate (or maybe mediate).

Definitely no solid solutions to this one. But at least everyone is on the same page - we don't want to see newbs or anyone else getting ripped off at SRP.