Just out of curiosity, how does someone become a Honemeister? Is there some kind of certification or something? Or is it something that just kind of comes with many years of honing other peoples razors? Thanks.
Honing Certification?
- Thread starter HCSchluge
- Start date
A bunch of hones and the cojones to call yourself one.
Bingo!
cojones?
What the hell is a cojone?
Is that the new breakfast cereal Kellogs has out?
No wait .... now I remember where I heard that word.
It's was in the move The Godfather ... remember where the heavy set guy with the cupids bow mouth guy says " Leave the gun - take the conjones"
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What's that phrase... "a honemeister is somebody with a hone and an ego"...
Joking aside, lots of practice and experience (generally it seems on their own or with some guidance if lucky).
Joking aside, lots of practice and experience (generally it seems on their own or with some guidance if lucky).
No, there isn't any certification, and as far as I know the guys who call themselves that do fall under the catch phrase...
To actually become one you hone about few thousand razors in all kinds of conditions and at that point you probably have a pretty good idea how to put a good edge on a razor. Not that many have done that, I can think of about a handful.
That about sums it up. The ego isn't so much a qualifier as it is a side effect. produce enough sharp edges from seemingly doomed lumps of rusted, deformed steel and you might start to think highly of yourself too.
I would say it's either what others have said (option number 1), or option number 2.
1. Do so many you truly know you can put an edge on a butter knife if need be
2. Let your work speak for itself. If you've got enough happy customers, you must be doing something right.
Number 2 is the most important. No poop jokes please.
1. Do so many you truly know you can put an edge on a butter knife if need be
2. Let your work speak for itself. If you've got enough happy customers, you must be doing something right.
Number 2 is the most important. No poop jokes please.
Ok, kidding aside, to become a recognized honemeister and to be called one by the rest of the community is the pinacle of success.
And achieving that takes a life time. Think of it as being a Kung Fu master. Sure you can be really good at it and kick a whole lot of people's ***es when your 20, but your not really a master. Mastership only comes with a lifetime of learning and a lot of humbleness. And thats what the meister in honemeister means.
We consider Lynn a master because he is always learning, is very knowledgeable, hones thousands of razors, and is a nice person. Plus he's pretty unassuming in regards to his abilities as far as I'm concerned.
So really, to become a *true* honemeister, you need the approval of the shaving community and your colleagues. Everyone else is just a person with a bunch of hones and an ego. The real ones don't call themselves honemeisters, other people confer the title upon them.
And achieving that takes a life time. Think of it as being a Kung Fu master. Sure you can be really good at it and kick a whole lot of people's ***es when your 20, but your not really a master. Mastership only comes with a lifetime of learning and a lot of humbleness. And thats what the meister in honemeister means.
We consider Lynn a master because he is always learning, is very knowledgeable, hones thousands of razors, and is a nice person. Plus he's pretty unassuming in regards to his abilities as far as I'm concerned.
So really, to become a *true* honemeister, you need the approval of the shaving community and your colleagues. Everyone else is just a person with a bunch of hones and an ego. The real ones don't call themselves honemeisters, other people confer the title upon them.
People who charge money to sharpen a razors edge are generally referred to on shaving forums as honemeisters. They don't possess any qualifications but earn there reputation and customers by providing a good service.
Historically, a barber would hone razors to sharpness. Some barbers would even be able to regrind a tired old razor although this was really a specialist skill. Barbers back then, would have an apprenticeship and as such were qualified by experience. This said, if a barber could not maintain and sharpen razors, he wouldn't be in business for very long as he would get no customers or be unable to find employment.
I've been sharpening my own razors and quite a few restorations over the years. I am 60 now and I started using a straight (off and on) when I was in my teens. So I know how to sharpen an edge on a razor to satisfy my daily personal shaving needs. My father first showed me how to hone and strop a blade. To be honest, I tend to regard it as an essential skill if you wish to use an open razor. I am far from alone in this as there are many members on this and other forums and many men who never read the forums who can similarly take good care of a razor. Sometimes some of the best razors can come from these experienced razor users.
Finally, as Leighton has written above, there are some men who sharpen razors on a professional basis that have generally earned the respect of the shaving forums membership as being especially talented at what they do. These experts don't really mind what you call them, but I have found they can get upset if you question there motivation which is generally not money.
Historically, a barber would hone razors to sharpness. Some barbers would even be able to regrind a tired old razor although this was really a specialist skill. Barbers back then, would have an apprenticeship and as such were qualified by experience. This said, if a barber could not maintain and sharpen razors, he wouldn't be in business for very long as he would get no customers or be unable to find employment.
I've been sharpening my own razors and quite a few restorations over the years. I am 60 now and I started using a straight (off and on) when I was in my teens. So I know how to sharpen an edge on a razor to satisfy my daily personal shaving needs. My father first showed me how to hone and strop a blade. To be honest, I tend to regard it as an essential skill if you wish to use an open razor. I am far from alone in this as there are many members on this and other forums and many men who never read the forums who can similarly take good care of a razor. Sometimes some of the best razors can come from these experienced razor users.
Finally, as Leighton has written above, there are some men who sharpen razors on a professional basis that have generally earned the respect of the shaving forums membership as being especially talented at what they do. These experts don't really mind what you call them, but I have found they can get upset if you question there motivation which is generally not money.
That may be true for some honemeisters, but some of the more prominent ones have admitted to honing 500-1000 razors/month. At $20/razor of course they're in it for the money.
Back in the old days one of the more prominent honemeisters used to accept razors from guys and would evaluate their edges and if they were good enough would post some complimentary comments on the forum. That ended when one of those guys started his own competing honemeistering business.
I think there's an enormous amount of evidence that they're definitely in it for the money, and their prickliness about the subject and willingness to use the banhammer on anyone that criticises them too harshly is pretty solid evidence that their motivations are not what they claim.
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That would definitely count as a good income. If they can guarantee 500 razors a month every month of the year, and can charge 20 bucks a pop, that's 120 grand. I dare say they would want to keep anyone else from entering the market at a rate like that, as it would be a darn good business.
And frankly lets be honest. No one needs the title of honemeister to get an A in my book, and it shouldn't be required in any one else's book either. I'm of the opinion that thousands of razors do not need to be honed before one knows what he/she is doing. The barbers of yesteryear probably did on the order of 10-20 razors and just touched up those same razors time after time over the years (and a touch up is not the same thing as putting an edge on something that doesn't have one).
There are at least a handful of people on this forum and over at SRP who have worked with enough blades and done this enough times that I would give them the title of "honemeister," even though they are too humble to accept it. There are even more who I am certain can put a wicked edge on anything that comes near their hones and just haven't told people about their exploits. If I need a blade honed, I don't need a certificate to know it was sharp, I just look at their past projects and say "now this is someone who knows what he/she is doing."
If you want a legal document you can send me $75 via paypal, and I'll send you all the study material, and after a short written exam, you'll get your certificate and you'll be ready to charge money for the service
or you can do what other people do: offer to hone 5 razors for free to get all the experience you need and voila, you're a seasoned honemeister
I got my honemeistering diploma off the back of a matchbook cover.
500 razors / 25 days = 20 razors/day,
so a razor must be honed in less than 30 minutes on average.
Some razors take a lot less time than others.
For example, I don't think it would take any more than 10 minutes to put a fine edge off a new dovo. The charge would probably be appropriate to the time spent as well.
For example, I don't think it would take any more than 10 minutes to put a fine edge off a new dovo. The charge would probably be appropriate to the time spent as well.
Sure, how much for a warped w&b wedge straight from ebay, so chips within the bevel too
Yes. But at least one honemeister has repeatedly made the claim over many years that he does 200-250 razors/week, or that he hones 25-30 razors in a single session, or other roughly equivalent statistics. At this point I'm inclined to take him at his word on this.
Using honing films makes this much faster since you always have fresh abrasive and a perfectly lapped surface, as does using multiple bevels so you don't have to spend much time in the polishing stages. And it obviously helps if you're mostly honing factory edges instead of ebay junkers.
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