Ok, so now that we have a sticky thread with a whole bunch of people agreeing that "honemeister" is a joke of a term and that guys called "honemeisters" are guys with big egos, etc... what do we do about this: http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/index.php?title=Honemeister ?
It's a whole list of people that we want to identify as "master honers" or whatever you want to call it, so that people will know where to go.
So... do we pick a new term for them since "honemeister" is a negative term, or just stop calling them anything and let it get ambiguous?
Perhaps they should just be called razor sharpeners, since that is what they do. As far as the list is concerned, I am not sure why it exists.
In my opinion, anyone who gets into straight razor shaving that is not learning to hone for themselves is doing themselves a huge disservice.
... Razor sharpening is a learned skill for sure, but it is also hyped as being overly difficult. Razor sharpening is rather simple actually. You remove metal from a razor by sliding it across a rock. Sure there is a little more to it, but not much...
I agree and disagree. I agree that sharpening is sharpening. The difference comes in the testing in my opinion. A razor must be much sharper than the typical nicely sharpened knife. The tests used for knives slowly lose their usefulness, in my opinion, as a razor gets towards the 12K level of sharpness. It takes some work to learn how to judge the shave readiness of an edge. And, it is the different testing techniques that more than anything else sets it apart from knives.
I am not inclined to mystify needlessly. But, I believe more is due a good honer than "just like knives." If this weren't true, there wouldn't be so many dozens of threads by capable honers of knives that were frustrated honers of razors.
I agree with most of what you said. You just went a little farther than I think fair. Just a matter of degree...
Or vice-versa... I can hone my razors easy-peazy... but a knife? I'm a total newb and can't get it sharp. (mind you I haven't tried it much so far...)
What really disgusts me is how much these guys make at it. On average, getting a razor sharpened by a "honemeister" costs about $20 to $30, when back and forth shipping is included. I'll say that an average "honemeister" makes $20 from sharpening a razor. I'll also say that it takes the 10 minutes to 15 minutes to sharpen one razor; it might even take less time. At that rate, an average "honemeister" makes around $80 to $120 an hour for their services. I think I picked the wrong profession and was dumb for going to college .
What really disgusts me is how much these guys make at it. On average, getting a razor sharpened by a "honemeister" costs about $20 to $30, when back and forth shipping is included. I'll say that an average "honemeister" makes $20 from sharpening a razor. I'll also say that it takes the 10 minutes to 15 minutes to sharpen one razor; it might even take less time. At that rate, an average "honemeister" makes around $80 to $120 an hour for their services. I think I picked the wrong profession and was dumb for going to college .
Am I the only one that thinks it's kind of childish to make fun of someone for what is obviously a nickname given to them?[/
+1 I have found this thread disappointing. How did it become a sticky? Wow
Am I the only one that thinks it's kind of childish to make fun of someone for what is obviously a nickname given to them?
$20 is a penalty fee for not learning how to sharpen your own razor!
Do it, it's not that hard.
...or if the guy pumping my gas for me calls himself a petroleum distribution engineer*
*I've actually seen this term on a job applicant's resume