I would like to know if you gents think a newbie like me can do my own honing? I don’t like the idea of sending it off. thanks
I would recommend sending one of to someone who does great honing jobs. That way you have an idea of what to aim for when you hone your own.
No. You can't really hone your own straights without some practice. How do you get practice? Hone straights. You likely can't strop razors well either. We are not talking scraping hair on your arm sharp but holding the blade above your arm and cutting hairs by passing the blade above the skin and just catching he tips of the hairs. My advice is to buy three inexpensive razors and sending them off. Get them back and try to shave and strop. Once you dull it grab your hone and try to touch it up and compare it to your second razor. Use your 3rd as a reference razor for the other two. You will get the hang of it but it's not like sharpening any knife forget those skills. Watch lots of razor sharpening videos!!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
I think I had 4 shave ready straight razors in rotation before I purchased stones. I started with a barbers hone to maintain my edges. I had no intentions of honing. That plan worked out quite well......for awhile
I started with lapping film and was able to keep a razor touched up with zero issues, even as an utter newb. Then I started buying more razors and stones, and everything sort of seemed like a crazy learning curve. For about a month. I honed on something every day. Then all of a sudden, ten razors were shave ready and in my drawer, and I had nothing to do. After that, it is literally a few minutes a month to stay caught up. I think the most important aspect is that you have a genuine interest in learning a new skill. Money doesn't need to be an issue considering you can buy enough lapping film to last you years for just a few bucks. Hones can be bought used, and there are some fairly inexpensive new options out there if you do your homework. I would also make sure you start with a razor that has an edge done by a trusted, recommended name in the community. Otherwise you have no idea what a good baseline is. I had edges from three different respected homemeisters, so I knew what to compare my own work to.
Of course you can. Now how long it takes you to get there... I have no idea how competent you are. But you CAN do it.
There is a lot to learn. One of the big challenges is getting past all of the miss information to get to the heart of the good stuff. The fastest way to learn is to go to a meet. In person hands on is the very best. If you cannot make it to a meet and want to learn on your own then I recommend Gssixgun videos. I like the presentation and he really knows his stuff. In order to hone on your own you need electrical tape, a set of quality hones, a loupe and very good razors. There is no point in making the learning harder than it has to be. Use tape and you won't kill your razors. It takes a lot of practice to understand the subtle nueances of honing. Until you get to a point where you can hone without eating through several pieces of tape, it is best to use it. I live a very long way from anywhere and initially learned on my own. A couple of meets and my honing improved a lot. Glen is a great teacher both by video and in person.
