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Honing: Hobby or Task?

Brew

Brew

Shave Enthusiast
Years ago I had a friend from one of the forums who loved to hone stuff. His whole reason for getting into straights was to make them sharp. Shaving was secondary, if that. Me? I'd prefer the razors keep themselves sharp, thank you. It's just not something I want to spend a whole bunch of time doing. I'll touch up a razor when it needs it, but I'm not going to glass the edge because I feel like setting a bevel.

How about for you? Is honing fun? Or a task/chore that needs to be done so you can shave?
 
I actually really enjoy honing. like shaving it is kind of a zen thing. That said, i feel that anyone who is willing to glass a perfectly good edge just so they can just start the whole thing over must have a screw or two loose. Honing is what led me to doing full restorations and rescales. it is truely satisfying to me to bring a vintage razor back to life.
 
uacowboy said:
Honing is what led me to doing full restorations and rescales.
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This is a rabbit hole I don't worry about. I have no talent, let alone skill, for this sort of activity. Which is probably why honing is a chore, not fun. It's got to get done, or sent to someone to do it. But then I feel like I'm imposing, so I learned . . . .
 
Brew said:
This is a rabbit hole I don't worry about. I have no talent, let alone skill, for this sort of activity. Which is probably why honing is a chore, not fun. It's got to get done, or sent to someone to do it. But then I feel like I'm imposing, so I learned . . . .
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my original plan when i started to use a straight was to have someone else hone it. then i found out that there was no one close and i didn't like the idea of sending my razor off(only one i had at the time, hadn't found forums yet lol) and having to wait an unknown amount of time to get it back. so i decided to learn.
 
Most of mine have bevels set by @Doc226 . But I've since polished up those hazy edges. They're not as comfy as they once were, but they get the job done.
 
uacowboy said:
it is truely satisfying to me to bring a vintage razor back to life.
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We think alike. While I haven't gotten into honing straights yet, I really love finding an old tool and bringing it back to life. In this throw away world we live in, few see value in anything that needs work to make it nice and maintain it.
 
I'm in the yes and yes camp.....

I've always had a fascination with making things sharp. That and a love for blades in general is what got me to buy my first straight just because I knew the Henkles name and it was ten bucks in pretty much new condition.

I did learn very quickly that sharpening a knife to "razor" sharp is not quite the same as properly honing a straight. That fueled me on to learn and I really enjoyed learning despite a few frustrations along the way.
I would still never glass one just to hone. I worked on improving the "final" edge I had.

Since then I've started forging knives and now there is a lot of added sharpening with less time. So at times it becomes more of a maintenance chore.
I do still really enjoy the end result of that labor though.
 
I'm definitely intimidated by it. I think of it as a chore. So much, that I've still never set aside the time to start to learn it. I have a few stones. And many barber hones. Just don't ever find myself with enough free time to get anything out to begin the learning process. That's probably the main reason I don't use straights much. But I'd liek that to change after the new year.
 
Spider said:
I'm definitely intimidated by it. I think of it as a chore. So much, that I've still never set aside the time to start to learn it. I have a few stones. And many barber hones. Just don't ever find myself with enough free time to get anything out to begin the learning process. That's probably the main reason I don't use straights much. But I'd liek that to change after the new year.
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This pretty much sums up me too
 
When I was younger I spent a lot of downtime keeping my pocket knife sharp. I used a picket stone. I always needed it for something and it had to be sharp. Kinda a competition to keep mine sharper than my stepfathers too. Life changes came and went and I lost the skill.

With straights, I wanted to learn the honing process to set and maintain an edge. I guess I may be in the middle. Not really a task because I enjoy it. But I’m not jonesing to find the next edge to sharpen either.
 
Loved using an SR. Pre and post stropping on leather was fine. For a while I tried to keep my edges refreshed on a pasted balsa strop...this is what killed the fun for me. It wasn’t fun, relaxing, or enjoyable and I didn’t want to farm it out for someone else to do it either. That’s why I’ve stuck to shavettes.
 
It's on my list of things to learn. Things more interesting keep pushing it down the list like my assembling of a working axe collection. I think I would like it because I'm used to tedious things (make a few pipe tomahawks!) and still prefer hand filing versus using a belt grinder for that final edge. I'm a novice knife sharpener at best. Good thing I can have a resource like Shawn to help with that stuff.
 
I am another one in the yes and yes category. It is definitely something I enjoy doing when I’m in the right mood and have time to spare, but when life is rushed and is piling on, adding a difficult hone job to the mix is the last thing I want to do. I have found that having a BUNCH of razors on hand and a good number of shavette style razors makes it possible to stay in the game without making a touch-up hone job something I HAVE to get done. I still have dozens of project razors and ones I want to retouch but I am not under pressure at any point so it is still a hobby I can enjoy. I am definitely not going to kill an edge just so I can start all over...nope. I do enjoy the challenge of nailing that perfect edge but now that I’ve had more practice I can also say I enjoy many more perfect edges.
 
I am not very good at honing yet, so it is more of a task than a hobby. However, I do want to get good at it and I think it will eventually be really enjoyable to maintain my own edges.
 
I'd like to learn, at least enough to maintain a blade. Space both for storage of stones, and a decent place to do that kind of work are things we don't have here in the city, so it's something I've chosen to pretend doesn't exist. Lapping film is probably my best option if I do decide to give it a try.

I think the thing that really put me off to even trying to go with stones is that not only do you have to learn to hone razors, but you also have to eventually be able to true the stones themselves, that makes my. head explode.
 
HMan said:
I think the thing that really put me off to even trying to go with stones is that not only do you have to learn to hone razors, but you also have to eventually be able to true the stones themselves, that makes my. head explode.
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That's really not that hard. Flat plate and wet dry sandpaper. Same concept as lapping film.
 
The key for me to making this a manageable task is to minimize variables and maximize convenience. This means splash-n-go, synth stones and a diamond plate to keep them flat. I started with just a 12k, just doing touch ups when I thought the strop wasn't keeping my edges ready, and have worked my way down-grit from there. I think this is even easier than film, but more expensive. I have no desire to work through the variables natural stones bring to the table. And I certainly don't want to suffer through the crappy edges these variables invariably cause beginners to learn through. Plus, I'm basically lazy, so there's that.
 
HMan said:
@Brew what's a diamond plate?
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DMT, or Diamond Machine Technology makes flat plates that are impregnated with some sort of synth diamond on the surface. I draw some pencil lines on the hone and rub against the plate until gone. The plate was PIF'd to me. I'm trying to find out which one. I'll revert asap.
 
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