I’ve been honing just over a year now and I can really tell my edges and my refreshing skills are improving. It feels great when you take a problematic razor and put a perfect edge on it. I’ve been loyal to the Naniwa system and it hasn’t let me down yet. My progression is 1k 3K 8k 12k . I also use the green DIALUX to finish on and do my touch ups on. I also use the 8k & 12k for refreshing as well. I am interested in cottys, Arks, and J-Nats but haven’t tried them yet but have done a decent amount of research. I think arks are great if you just love honing because they take forever lol
Way to stick with it, Mike. Glad to hear your skills are getting better and you're happy with the results. Just not something I have the time or inclination to get into right now.
Yeah I learned a lot from some very knowledgeable folks. Also watched countless videos before I even got my first straight razor. Being unprepared, or not doing enough due diligence is the worst thing you could do, because then you’re just going into it blindly all Willy Nilly. But yeah, it feels good being at that upper level skill wise. I haven’t tried to do any repairs or fix chips or anything like that yet but what I am good at is taking a full razor, taking it through my Naniwa progression and get it shaving great again like it should! I will only get better with time! Soon I’ll be doing rolling x strokes and restoring razors haha!
I only technically have 2 straight razors. My Dubl Duck Special No.1 & my J.A Henckel’s 72 golden checkered Friodur. And 2 of dollars if you want to count them into the party. but I did own 2 Theirs-Issards. One Evide Sonnat and a Sheep & Wolf. And I almost forgot I owned a Henckels Twin that I sold. I was growing tired of the extra or singing hollows. Looking back, that wasn’t a good grind to start off at.
Being as though I tried a decent amount of razors so far. I know what my preference is. I like razors that have a nice JIBBING. I don’t care if it’s a square or round point but I think square tips look better. I don’t mute my tips either. I like 11/16 -6/8 the best. I like half hollows, and really want to try a 1/4 hollow real soon. And I just might get this Red Imp, I think it’s a near wedge, but it very well might be a true wedge. That should be interesting
I’ve been honing for about 10-11 years now, and honing a lot. I just enjoy honing, it’s cathartic and I put on a bit of classical music. What’s ‘JIBBING’?
My biggest differences between then and now are: - in the beginning, past the basics, I could get a great shave with a great razor, off a great stone some of the time. I didn’t know what a good stone was. Because I didn’t have one. - In the middle, I could get a great shave with many razors on a wider variety of stones. But still didn’t understand stones or razors. - now, I can kind of, maybe, relate good or bad steel to good or bad stones. The journey continues.
6 years, and hundreds of razors. The more you hone, the more you realize how little you knew in the beginning. As with @Steve56 , it was more of a Cathartic thing, to counter stress from work. Now I just hone a few new razors, or some problem razors for friends.
If you're talking about the notches on the spine, the jimps, then you mean jimping. If you meant something else, just tell me to shut up and color
Started SR shaving in 1981 Learned to Maintain my two razors on a Pure White Ouachita stone the Barber who taught me had me order the same day as I bought the razors,,, still have that stone Used just that and an Illinois 835 strop until 2006, I still have that strop too, if you take your time, it is NOT inevitable that you destroy your first strop In 2006 I got into SRs a bit more and started restoring and honing professionally by shear accident. Over the last 16+ years, I have honed just about every type of razor out there from the Old Double edge blades to those curvy Japanese SK-1's Used or tested just about every Stone and Hone that has been out there, tens of thousands of edges later here are the few things that have not changed 90% of honing is in the bevel set There are no cute strokes that work, move the edge evenly and equally across the hone, to get a tight even bevel and repeat (Honing Gymnastics) The Magic Maker test reveals the truth The magic is in the hands not the stone, read my signature line again Stropping is King Everything you think you know now, will change as you hone more razors .. Your first "WOW" edge is going to be more exciting than your first successful edge, your second one will be very depressing because you will realize you didn't really know as much as you thought you did .. Enjoy the journey, it isn't a race to a finish line, there is no finish line
Thanks bro, you know I learned a lot from you. I think my Dubl Duck and Friodur have that WOW edge on them. I’m glad I re did my Friodur because the edge is way better this go around!