Benefits of Doing It Your Own Way

[u2u]

Having started wet shaving and taking up straight razors well before the advent of Internet forums I have only recently realized the benefits of doing it your own way. No Inet and no local honers meant I had to accept factory edges until I learned to hone myself. Lacking the internet when I started straight shaving, gaining experience, and then ignoring the advice of shave gurus, due to personal experience, has saved me a considerable sum over the years.

My situation forced me to discover the big makers can, and do, deliver shave ready straights right off the factory floor!

I recently took the time to do a rough calculation and relate that sum to my most recent purchases. The money saved was from not sending my factory new razors out to be expertly honed before using them. About 95 percent of my factory new razors arrived shave ready.

While the savings will vary depending on your market situation and the number of razors you purchase here is what the savings meant to me:



I was able to purchase a Dovo Bismark 6/8 with Pearl acrylic scales, a Dovo 5/8 Ironwood, and cover the cost of a Simpson Disco Haze "The Hive".


For each razor that I saved honing costs on I also had the irreplaceable experience of enjoying the blade as the craftsman who ground it intended.

Just food for thought if you consider steering away from net wisdom.

 

[Rockminer]

2 threads on this and I still don't really understand them. You're saying that you saved money by taking a shot in the dark on a razor and using it "as the craftsman had intended". I'm assuming you'll need to have them honed eventually, no? Aren't you spending the same amount of money? when you bought your honing supplies did you use the internet to order them or see what was working for others?

This site thrives on information and user input. If someone isn't learning anything or thinks the internet isn't helping, then why be a member?

I'm not trying to be confrontational, just trying to understand.

 

[eaterofdog]

I'm fairly sure the craftsman didn't intend for you to be shaving with a raw-*** factory edge.

 

[u2u]

Gentlemen:

Sorry my communication skills are poor.

To try again, when I started into straights there was no Internet and no one in my area to hone your new razor for you. The seller and manufacture, in my case Dovo products, claimed the products were shave ready as sold. They were.

Years later, the Internet comes along. After a time the accepted wisdom becomes you need to have new razors honed, before use, post production. Having already experienced many new razors without that advice, my experience was you do not need to have a new razor honed.

My collection has expanded greatly in the past eight months. I continue to find no need to have the razors honed when sold as factory shave ready with very few exceptions. Indeed, the only exceptions I have had were from Thiers Issard.

I should add, if you peruse my reviews, I bought a Wacker that the vendor honed against my direction. I had to rehone that when I received it. I will never know if that one was shave ready. I suspect Heribert Wacker, who has more time manufacturing razors than the age of most forum members, knows how to hone a razor.

The cumulative money I have saved not sending new razors out for honing has added up to the amount of the above purchases. That reflects the cost of doing business where I live times the number of new razors I have purchased over the years.

As one who shaves almost exclusively with straights I have had occasion on which to hone well used, well maintained razors. Those occasions are rather infrequent and I do it myself.

I agree, the site does thrive on user input and that is what I have attempted to provide. I tuely don't understand why presenting my simple reflections on my experience goes against that spirit.

We are all free to buy what goods or services we choose. I am merely sharing the results of my choices with the forum membership.

To the moderators, please be so good to remove my post if I have breached the rules or unreasonably offended the membership...

 

[Rockminer]

I'm sorry if I offended you. Your last post explains things a little better for me. I guess I just don't see the hundreds of saved dollars. If I'm new to straights, I would at least want to know what the edge is supposed to feel like. I would rather send it to a member here, who gets praise for their edges from other members, than take a chance on a factory edge. I'm not saying "shave ready" factory edges don't exist, but I've also heard the horror stories involved with factory edges. You seemed to have had very good luck in that respect.

When there was no internet, the savings may have been there, depending on what the honemeister charged. But, with the amount of members here who are willing to do it for an extremely fair price, and sometimes for the cost of shipping alone, one would have to buy many razors to be able to buy the stash you posted.

Also, with the ability to maintain edges, it's really a small investment considering, if one takes up straight exclusively, they're probably going to end up honing their own razors anyway, negating the need to send them off to be honed from a factory edge ( I can just put my own edge on it).

Again, I'm sorry if I offended you. It just seemed like you were saying there was no merit in "shave gurus" Information and experience with factory edges.

 

[wolfsvein]

When I got my Ralf Aust shave ready it shaved just fine. But it just wasn't keen enough for my tasted so I honed it myself. The sharpness of a razor is to each there own the way they like it.

 

[oakeshott]

I've given a lot of thought to what U2U wrote because, like most folks, I just blindly accepted what everyone said. I thought it was a non-controversial "fact" and accurate representation of things. Now I wonder and wondering isn't a bad thing. Since I do my own honing, if I ever order a modern razor, I'm going to want it sent with the factory edge. I'm curious about what they turn out.

I do take issue with the savings component though because my understanding is that many of the places (SRP, TSS etc) will hone the new razors they sell you for free. That is, if you buy the razor, the honing is tossed in for free.

 

[u2u]

Rockminer:

No offence taken on my part. I have tried, I hope with success not to offend others. I have discovered that honing new razors is a touchy subject. In retrospect I should not have shared my experience and views but here we are. It seems you saw my original post in which my writing style and light hearted approach resulted in the post being removed.

In my area there is now, and only recently, one party who does honing. Present charge $35.00 plus one way shipping and taxes. He is a vendor as well but sells nothing that catches my interest. Another vendor charges $20.00 when you buy new from him. Scuttlebutt is he gets them honed by the other vendor.

Not living in the USA limits choices severely, adds mail costs, and hassles with taxes and duties and service fees and on and on at the border. Sometimes you get lucky but often you pay. This is why, for me, shipping to the States and back is a nonstarter and I save by avoiding purchasing needless services. For those who can get "free" honing, low postal fees, no duties and taxes, all the better if that is what they want. Just looking at 28 straights here, all bought new, only two not shave ready from the factory. I enjoyed the craftsmanship in the others and I never would have experienced it had I purchased honing services, be it as an extra charge or paid for hidden within the price. I have called it a needless service because 26 out of 28 sitting here in my hands demonstrates that to me. As always, just an opinion offered, valued at what you paid, and qualified by YMMV.