Hello, is $35 a razor for basic honing service a good price? I ask because it seems steep to me given that my Razors did not cost this much. Maybe I’m just naive. Thanks.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Honing service pricing??
- Thread starter Pmaynard19
- Start date
Maybe a little steep 20-25 is about normal but has been that much for a while.
I don't think 30 is out of the question and if there are any issues it could be more.
It's manual labor. Skilled labor, not just pumping a stick or pushing a button x times. Additionally it's a dying skill. If you offer different finishes you also need to have quite a lot of expensive hones on hand.
Now start thinking from there.
35$ including shipping back to you would not be exceptionally expensive. If it includes geometry changes or removing for example the GD 66 stabilizer it could be justified even without shipping.
I had one hone done here by a honemeister in Germany. GD 66 supplied by him, stabilizer modified and perfect Naniwa 8k finish. He offered several alternative synthetic and JNAT finishes, but i wanted a reference razor as i obtained a Naniwa progression to 8k.
Cost me 35€ including shipping and the GD 66, but shipping is quite a lot cheaper here.
HTH
godek
Now start thinking from there.
35$ including shipping back to you would not be exceptionally expensive. If it includes geometry changes or removing for example the GD 66 stabilizer it could be justified even without shipping.
I had one hone done here by a honemeister in Germany. GD 66 supplied by him, stabilizer modified and perfect Naniwa 8k finish. He offered several alternative synthetic and JNAT finishes, but i wanted a reference razor as i obtained a Naniwa progression to 8k.
Cost me 35€ including shipping and the GD 66, but shipping is quite a lot cheaper here.
HTH
godek
It depends on what the razor looks like and how recently it was used.
An old wedge pulled from an attic can be a lot of work. Same for something exotic that has not yet shaved.
However, if the razor was shaving recently and just needs a refresh, that seems quite steep.
An old wedge pulled from an attic can be a lot of work. Same for something exotic that has not yet shaved.
However, if the razor was shaving recently and just needs a refresh, that seems quite steep.
- Thread starter
- #6
Well, it’s local to me so no shipping. The razors all shave although they could use honing for sure. I definitely understand that’s it’s a skilled service and it’s a dying trade, but I don’t know if it’s worth paying for service on a razor that cost me $15. Maybe if the cost wasn’t so steep it wouldn’t be such of a dying trade lol.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #8
I think I’m going to go this route soon when I can afford the equipment. I enjoy doing things myself and learning new skills. I know it may be difficult to learn at first but anything worth knowing how to do usually is. I’m new to SR and these are the first and only straight razors I own, I feel like I would benefit from having them honed but for the price of having all 3 honed, I may be able to buy a starter combo honing stone or 2.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
$35 is a tad much for a basic honing, $25 seems more reasonable but this only applies for a basic honing and no geometry issues or chips to address.
If it's just a straight (no pun intended) hone then it seems a bit much but I don't rightly know what folks charge these days.
If it needs more than that then, yes, it can be a reasonable charge.
But, as I recall, a lot of honers would give you an evaluation telling you what they found and their opinion of what it will need to make the razor keen. This would let you decide if want to pay the extra price or not.
Perhaps this has changed over the years? If so, I can only conjecture it's a one price fits all.
In the time I'm speaking of shipping was separate both ways, so take that into account.
Chris
If it needs more than that then, yes, it can be a reasonable charge.
But, as I recall, a lot of honers would give you an evaluation telling you what they found and their opinion of what it will need to make the razor keen. This would let you decide if want to pay the extra price or not.
Perhaps this has changed over the years? If so, I can only conjecture it's a one price fits all.
In the time I'm speaking of shipping was separate both ways, so take that into account.
Chris
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
The cost of the razor is irrelevant to the cost of honing. A $4 Gold Dollar costs just as much to hone, sometimes more, than a $1200 custom. Yeah that's higher than average for a basic honing, but nobody is forcing you to go for it. More important than the price of honing is the VERIFIED skill of the honer. If you pay only shipping, and the edge sucks when you get it back, then you paid too much. If our edge is absolutely science fiction crazy sharp and you are so pleased with it that you decide to send him another one to hone for $35, then the price was okay.
20 or 25 seems the going rate for a hollow grind w/o shipping
I charged $25 with free return shipping back when I was getting them in to hone but several times I lost money as the edge commanded more time to correct but then I just like to hone
I charged $25 with free return shipping back when I was getting them in to hone but several times I lost money as the edge commanded more time to correct but then I just like to hone
This is just the thing.
I don't think I've ever seen a razor in for honing that did not have small chips or irregularities.
Always, always I will have to remove something on a 1k and work my way up. I have never just had or would just refresh an edge on an 8k to start or higher.
I normally just use a slurried 4k Shapton GS to ensure the bevel is mine after lightly killing the edge as I hate those 1K scratches ( seems like it takes awhile to get them out ) but other times I have spent what I consider a long time on a 1K just to get a cutting edge.
Start with lapping film and price won't be an obstacle. There's a big ol' thread about it in this very subforum.
- Thread starter
- #17
I understand what your saying about the razor cost being irrelevant to a certain point. I restore tobacco pipes and I can run into this situation quite a bit where someone sends me a $15 pipe that’s going to cost $30 to fix, but because of the sentimental value they’re willing to pay it no question. With the razors I have there is no sentimental value so I questioned the forum to get an idea since I’m new. As far as “nobody forcing me to go for it” I realize this, that’s why I was asking the group for opinions. I don’t quite understand the Gold Dollar thing, I wouldn’t pay $4 for a razor that I’m going to have to pay $50 to fix. I would rather just buy a nicer razor that may not need the service. Maybe I’m missing something.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
- Thread starter
- #18
I’ve read a lot of that thread. It does seem like a great option.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
Most razors do not leave the factory in shave ready condition. Most vendors leave them as they are when they sell them. What you need to do is find those vendors that do hone what they sell, and reliable people who will vouch for that vendor. Anyone can say that the razor that he (or she!) sells is shave ready. Even someone who doesn't have a clue, doesn't even shave with a straight razor. It happens. A LOT. Vendors mentioned and recommended on this forum are pretty safe bets.
Most buyers of Gold Dollars either know how to hone them, or are looking at the low price, and are overly optimistic about their ability to make them shave ready and the equipment that they have on hand for doing so. It is not impossible to buy one new in box, and hone it well enough to shave with, and then learn to shave with it. Not impossible at all. But rather difficult with a lot of confusion and uncertainty.
We used to have a guy here on this forum who honed them up and sold them cheap to beginners. I don't believe anyone reliable is doing that, currently. Some ebay sellers are supposedly doing that but I would not count on their edges without verification here on this board. You might end up paying $20 or $30 or even more for the same $4 razor and still need to have it honed.
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
Oh, it is, believe me. I have been on the lapping film bandwagon almost from the beginning and it rocks. Cheap, too. If you do a lapping film progression to 1u and then a pasted balsa progression to .1u as per The Method, you will end up with a crazy sharp edge. The trick is just like painting a beautiful paint by the numbers painting of Elvis or the poker playing dogs on velvet to cover up the big hole in the wall of your trailer's living room. You got to follow the directions perfectly and not try to freestyle it or change something just because you feel like it or you think you know better or something doesn't seem like it would be important or you think this or that would work better. Change the method, and you change the results. There are a lot of ways to hone a razor that will work. Some that work pretty good, some not so good, and a kajillion ways to do it wrong that will not work. If you don't know, and you have a paint by the numbers system to follow, then follow it or you will get lost trying to find the path to that mythical science fiction edge. Read the lapping film thread all the way to the end and pay special attention to the experiences of other newbies who succeeded on their first or second attempt. The one thing they have in common is that they followed directions exactly without trying to outsmart them.
