Thread: I want a Lynn honed razor. Opinions?

I caught RAD (razor aquisition disorder) a little over a year and a half ago. It sounds like it has a good hold on you too! Of my collection of ~25 razors, I find the Bokers and the Henckels to be the most user friendly and the easiest to hone to a "shave ready" edge. Not that I am a honemeister but I can tell the difference between blades that are uncomfortable and ones that "wipe" the hair from your face. I don't like DOVO only because I got one with a warped blade and I heard that was not an isolated complaint.

Only one other thing, check out www.shavingshop.com as well, they have some Bokers on sale right now.

Have fun with it.

Originally Posted by Bill S

It's actually pretty hard to describe exactly what a properly honed razor should feel like. Of course, it should cut effortlessly, shave without any pulling or irritation, etc... The thing is, one of the reasons you get a Lynn honed razor is so that you will have a benchmark or a reference point to evaluate other razors. By that I mean that since you know that the razor is properly honed you can rule out a substandard edge as a possible cause if you are having problems. As long as you don't trash the edge it should shave you perfectly, if it doesn't you probably have other issues. For that reason alone a Honemeister edge can be your best ally as you work your way up the learning curve. Setting economics aside, now is the right time for a properly honed razor.

If you want to learn to hone you should have something to compare your work with. Again, get one of Lynn's razors and you will have something to aim for as you learn to hone. BTW, if you want to provide honing services for others you should know that most of the credible guys have honed a bunch (I mean a LOT) before hanging out their shingle. I think Lynn honed about a thousand before he "went pro". Now, the guy is a honing machine.

That's exactly my thinking on that, and yeah, I don't see myself offering those services for quite awhile. Although, I do tend to pick things up quite quickly. I'm a pretty good study.

Regardless of whether I will actually be able to afford that set when the time comes around, I still will want a Lynn honed razor. My feeling was that if I could get the best, then I know what to aspire to; and "going pro" will be a long way off.

LOL @ "honing machine"

Originally Posted by straightcrazy

I caught RAD (razor aquisition disorder) a little over a year and a half ago. It sounds like it has a good hold on you too! Of my collection of ~25 razors, I find the Bokers and the Henckels to be the most user friendly and the easiest to hone to a "shave ready" edge. Not that I am a honemeister but I can tell the difference between blades that are uncomfortable and ones that "wipe" the hair from your face. I don't like DOVO only because I got one with a warped blade and I heard that was not an isolated complaint.

Only one other thing, check out www.shavingshop.com as well, they have some Bokers on sale right now.

Have fun with it.

Yeah, Bokers are sweet looking blades. But I've only seen ones that are way off the shave ready mark (antiques that are rusty), and need to be honed. And since I don't have that equipment yet, I haven't bothered to buy any. I have my eye on one, a King Cutter, but I'm hoping I can talk the vendor down a bit. It has pearl on the tang. But it needs some cleaning up and some honing and he wants way too much for it right now. Well, for me, it's a bit much. Especially since it needs work. Apparently, I'm not the only one who thinks he wants too much for it, because he's hasn't sold it yet, and I've been looking at it since late July, just before I signed up here. I really like that razor. I can tell it would clean up well. And the edge, while certainly not shave ready, looks to be evenly honed.

Lynn offers honning for $20 Honing By Lynn, Founder of SRP - Straight Razor Place Classifieds

Originally Posted by straightcrazy

I caught RAD (razor aquisition disorder) a little over a year and a half ago. It sounds like it has a good hold on you too! Of my collection of ~25 razors, I find the Bokers and the Henckels to be the most user friendly and the easiest to hone to a "shave ready" edge. Not that I am a honemeister but I can tell the difference between blades that are uncomfortable and ones that "wipe" the hair from your face. I don't like DOVO only because I got one with a warped blade and I heard that was not an isolated complaint.

Only one other thing, check out www.shavingshop.com as well, they have some Bokers on sale right now.

Have fun with it.

Thanks. You obviously picked a good name for yourself. I only have one razor that I can shave with at the moment, and the other is a Swedish razor, whose name is long, and I can't spell at the moment, but is in the good brands section of this website. I can't wait to get that one shave ready. I've already sanded off the grunge and she's nice and shiny. She just needs to be honed. I know she already cuts hair, because I can take hair off my thigh with it; I have a big silly bald patch there. And, it looks like whoever honed it before, did it pretty evenly.

Originally Posted by gugi

Lynn offers honning for $20 Honing By Lynn, Founder of SRP - Straight Razor Place Classifieds

I've considered that option too, but I'm trying to figure out if it's better for me to put the money I would spend on the honing and the postage to the states, towards the 4k/8k norton, and then when I get the refund in the new year, get that package from SRD or Vintage (looks like it will be Vintage, as long as it's honed by Lynn).

I know 20 bucks (plus postage) doesn't sound like much, but things ARE that tight for me, and I figure with that package, you essentially get a free honing, plus I think a certificate for another? Not sure if that's true for Vintage, or if that's just offered with SRD. In the meantime, after all the videos I've watched, I am hoping to get the 4k/8k norton combo in about 6 weeks, to try out honing my Swedish blade.

Trying to get the best bang for my very limited bucks. If I end up not being able to get the 4k/8k norton, then I will most likely just send the blade out to Lynn. It would be nice to have a second razor to shave with, so I can extend the shave life of the bade honed by Ben.

Originally Posted by zib

You sound like me. I love to sharpen knives, and have been using these two old Norton Oil Stones, 11.5x2.5 for years now. You can shave with my knives, that's how I got into this...Anyway. SRD and Lynn is great. You can't go wrong with them. IMHO. They have the best prices on Dovo razors. Lynn is the becnch mark for sharpness with a lot of guys. You'll be happy with a Dovo Tortoise scale razor it sounds. Save up and get yourself a Mastro Livi Razor. I love mine. Also, You may eventually get a silver tip badger. They are top of the line, and if you don't get one now, you may buy one later....

Rich

As gorgeous as those Maestro Livi razors are, there's no way a guy in my position should even be thinking of those blades. Besides, if I were ever in that position, I would probably look to Max or Alex for a custom, because I really admire the work they do. Maybe after ten or so years of shaving, and hopefully a better financial situation, I could look at a Livi, but yeah, I'm so broke, I shouldn't even be looking at them right now. They are beauties though, I agree. But I'd rather first support the fine work of members here.
Like the set I want, with the strop it comes with, I would still want to get a Tony Miller artisan one day. Those are true works of art. And I always like the idea of buying straight from the designer themselves. Cheers to small businesses.


And yeah, I love knives of all kinds. I'm a pretty good cook too, and appreciate a good chef's knife.

Originally Posted by New2CutThroats

I know 20 bucks (plus postage) doesn't sound like much, but things ARE that tight for me, and I figure with that package, you essentially get a free honing, plus I think a certificate for another? Not sure if that's true for Vintage, or if that's just offered with SRD.

That is true of SRD. I don't think anyone else offers the 2nd honing free. If you have any flea markets or antique stores around your area you may sometimes fine decent vintage razors at affordable prices.

You can then send them to Lynn for tuning up and you've got something to shave with. The older Solingen blades are usually as good as it gets. The old American companies and the Sheffields are good too.

If you're going to get the Norton 4/8 buying cheap older blades is the best way to learn IME.

Well, I won't be able to get that set from Vintage after all, because they don't ship to Canada. Just checked my email.

*heavy sigh*

Hope that's not true of SRD?

Send an email to Don, I am pretty sure they do. There is a sale 10% off on all of the Dovos right now.