to buy or to send out?

[smalltank]

I am on the fence..Ralfy knows this..he has my emails ;-P
I cant tell if it is better to send my razors out to be honed as most honemeisters dont hone on just 1 stone..hence norton combo or 2 sided belgun hones..as I have heard Funny thing is..my has CutCo knifes which gives us (her) the leisure of never needing to sharpen them..and if they ever become dull she says there is an 800 number and a van comes by to resharpen the no charge..make sense?

SmallTank

 

[dnullify]

Do you want to learn to hone for yourself?
Or do you not mind someone else doing it, and paying for that service?

Do you have a pressing need for a shave ready razor? Because If you buy a hone it could take you a while of learning before you have a shave ready edge.

I believe the good fellows who run this site have a honing service if you are unsure, and I am sure they use coticules.

 

[smalltank]

Umm..im in no real rush..but thought I would get some ideas if I choose to get a hone..one day B)

ST

 

[tat2Ralfy]

I would consider buying a small bout and slurry stone from Ardennes, it will be perfect for touch ups, and also serve you very well for the occasional full hone

Plus once you own one, it won't cost a dime to maintain your razors

Regards
Ralfson

 

[BlacknTan]

You may or may not find my experience helpful, but when I purchased my first straights, I bought my first stones at the same time. Naniwa SuperStones. My shave and honing experience and technique developed together, almost as one.
I don't know if that was helpful or not, but I was self sufficient right from the beginning, and looking back, I would not change a thing!

 

[Snuff]

I'm Just a beginner but I recently got myself two coticules, I practice on the easiest one and I found the Unicot method fairly easy to use. But I'm glad I had two razors honed by Bart so I could compare my own results with a good honed razor. And the fact that you shave with a razor you sharpened yourself makes it just a bit more special. Greets Ron

 

[Birnando]

Hi.
I live far away from what I knew of people able to hone a razor, when I started out.
That lead me to the conclusion that I had to do 2 things.
1. I had to buy a razor honed by a skilled individual for comparising purposes.
2. I had to find a way to learn this myself.

This approach, while not recommended by all, worked out fine for me.
It took a good while to find "my" edge, but now that I have, I'm actually happy I went the way I did.

 

[tat2Ralfy]

I will echo the last three posts, I started learning to hone at the same time as I started using a straight razor, I have always preferred to do things myself if I can, and the learning curve has been for me a wonderful journey :thumbup:

Best regards to you Eric
Ralfson

 

[Bart]

Straight razor shaving is an ancient art of self-reliance.

You need to learn to properly prepare you beard.
You need to learn how to use the razor.
You need to learn how to strop the razor.
You need to learn how to maintain the edge on your razor.

The required items are:
a razor, soap, a brush, s strop (linen and leather), a whetstone.

It is that simple. It's all part of the same skill.
Honing is just the least urgent part to learn.
I think that no starting shaver should pay for having his razor honed. There are enough fellow straight razor users in the world who can sharpen and razor and will actually enjoy doing so. This very website has a

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for that purpose. And there are plenty of members here who will consider it an honor helping a new shaver out.
As soon as you are sure that a straight razor is the tool your going to be using to shave your beard for as long as it grows, you should make up your mind about a way to maintain the edge on your razor. There are several workable options, of which the use of a Coticule is only one. We can discuss the options in this thread if you like. But eventually you will need to settle for one of them and make it work for you. A stupid and expensive mistake is to follow the lure of the gear driven forums on the Internet. You'll end up owning a drawer full of gear without the competence to use any of it to its full potential. The choice of the tools is very much of minor importance compared to learning how to use it well. That counts as much for the brush, the soap and the razor as for the sharpening gear.

Kind regards,
Bart.