Thread: Great big thanks to Lynn Abrams; what a great guy.

So I emailed Lynn last week and asked that since I live about 2 hours away from him, if he would be willing to help me out by teaching me how to properly hone a razor, guide me in the right direction on purchasing a set of hones (I just couldn't figure out what I needed or wanted from the many differences out there), and if he would also allow me to "pick his brain" about future restoration of a few old blades I had aquired. He said he would and my cost... my time. So I show up today with my 3 razors and seven oldies but not yet goodies. Lynn patiently teaches me how to strop, the differences in the many types of pastes, what types of strops/materials to use what pastes on, how and when to use a pasted strop, the proper way to hold a straight razor for honing, stropping, shaving, and blade restoration. Some clumbsy dumbass newbie that looks just like me, but couldn't have been me, dropped one of the razors in the sink a couple of days ago. If you haven't done this yet, I do NOT reccomend it; it seems to have a tendency to put a nasty nick inthe blade, but that's better than trying to catch it! So Lynn removes the nick in that blade so it could be honed, after seeing how easy it is for him, he can drop razors all he wants! So we finish honing and paste stropping and then he shows me the propper way to make lather using several different types and a cool trick to make uberlather using only TWO drops of glycerine. Then he runs not one but all seven of my old raggady blades over a combination of buffers and a power hone. He even muted a point on a fourth razor for me. I know I'm missing something along the way here, but for just the "cost" of my time I leave with 4 freshly honed razors (remeber I only showed up with 3) a brand new tub of soap and 7 freshly power honed if needed for corrections and buffed oldies plus I learned how to hone, properly strop and paste/strop, make lather and uber lather, restoration guidance and tricks, how to belt grind blanks, and so much more! This seems like an entire weekend of activity, but only took about 4 1/2 hours. I just made an educated order of my 1st set of hones, lapping stone,and stropping paste; knowing how to actually use them...priceless! Thanks so much to Lynn who if you don't know him is an extremely patient and generous person!

AWESOME! You Have Probably Got 4 1/2 Years Of Knowledge In Those 4 1/2 Hours!

Lynn Is A Generous Man For all The Guidance He Freely Gives!

Originally Posted by Chevhead

AWESOME! You Have Probably Got 4 1/2 Years Of Knowledge In Those 4 1/2 Hours!

Lynn Is A Generous Man For all The Guidance He Freely Gives!

And then some.

That's fantastic. And people wonder why so much loyalty in this community - comes down to just plain good people.

Good for you.. I'm a newbie too and have been having a streak of mistakes. I would love to have had that experience, and you should feel fortunate to have had it. Good luck honing too.

Very fortunate, indeed.

Originally Posted by Fort

Good for you.. I'm a newbie too and have been having a streak of mistakes. I would love to have had that experience, and you should feel fortunate to have had it. Good luck honing too.

I agree, I couldn't have been more fortunate. One thing I can say to anyone is to find a mentor or someone who knows how to properly hone RAZORS. I've been honing my own knives since I was about 10 years old or younger (I'm now 37 almost 38) withand as taught by my grandfather and I honed them to "razor sharp" - please take notice of the quotes there. Anyways, razors are very different and the amount of pressure needed and when it's needed is very hard to determine from a video. By learning from Lynn in person I know I will definitely now be able to "shave" a very significant amount of time off of my learning curve! I really can't express how much I learned nor how fortunate I feel. Thanks again to Lynn and to everyone on this site who continually provide much needed help and advice; this here is one great group of guys I don't care what others say about any of you!

Originally Posted by 75kyle

... So Lynn removes the nick in that blade so it could be honed, after seeing how easy it is for him, he can drop razors all he wants!

That is a very good reason to damage razors

What a guy!

Thanks Lynn, for all that you have done and do here at SRP.

Thanks Kyle,

Glad it was worth the trip. You were a great student and I can't wait to see some of your work when you start your restorations and razor making. Let me know how those razors we honed up did on shaving.

Did I mention the Balvenie Doublewood was pretty tasty.......

You're welcome back any time!

Have fun