[QUOTE=Alera;1658051]
Quote Originally Posted by BobH View Post

I personally don't shave with the razors. Our store is actually a beard grooming store first and foremost, so I need to keep my beard. I cut hair on my arm and forearm in order to determine sharpness, but is there a way to get a sharp, shaveable edge without shaving with them? we plan to give about 3 of my razors to the barbers we are partnered with to test with, and their opinion is highly regarded in the local barber scene. Plus, i feel as if shaving with every customer's blade could be somewhat disrespectful or unhygienic and moderately time consuming on my part.
Like I said, for me if a straight razor easily cuts hair, in my case arm hair, all along the edge then I am reasonably sure the bevel is set. That I normally do on a 1K Naniwa hone and is only the start of the honing process. From there I go up the honing progression refining the edge to, hopefully, a shave ready state. I don't think I would want to shave off an edge that cuts arm hair as it might be a little rough.

You could search the forum for threads on the Hanging Hair Test, HHT, to see opinions on that as a final test without resorting to a shaving test.

The barbers you intend giving the razors too are going to be testing them on themselves or their clients? I know here barbers are not allowed to use straight razors on customers. They must use shavettes which use replaceable blades and the blade must be replaced with a fresh one before doing the next customer.

Personally I test my edges by how they shave, not all pass the first time round either. I have been learning to hone for several years now without any one on one help and am only now getting towards edges that I really like for myself. Honing is a simple process that is unexpectedly hard to learn to do well.

In any event those barbers, if they shave themselves with your straight razors and have used straight razors before, will be able to tell you about your edges. You really need seasoned veteran straight razor users who know what a good edge shaves like as testers.

I hope you work it all out because we need more competent quality honing services. These are few and far between.

Bob