Thread: professionally honed..?

I think taking utopian up on his offer is your best bet. 1) it is a generous offer and you won't be able to beat the price, 2) you will instantly know whether you are the problem or the razor is. Don't put too much faith in any tests: HHT, TNT, whathaveyou... These tests are for pros for use mainly during honing. As you are new unfortunately the tests are even less reliable than your shave test. You maybe 100% right and your technique could be flawless but without experience that can't be a known and unfortunately with two variables we won't be able to give you an answer. Utopian will be able to eliminate all variables except a faulty hone job, and will be able to send it back with a proper hone job which will eliminate that variable from the equation. Art of shaving is a great resource for us straight shavers because it is one of the only brick and mortar stores we have access to. That said I wouldn't trust those the recomend for honing. That's just my experience in 1 AOS store with one saleslady and I hope not indicative of the whole chain.

Originally Posted by thehekler

I think taking utopian up on his offer is your best bet.

Offers like this don't come up every day, you shouldn't hesitate.

+3 on taking up utopian's offer.

I have 25 razors, 13 of which were professionally sharpened. At the beginning, even the professionally sharpened razors either didn't cut hair or pulled during the shave. After my first 100 shaves, an interesting thing happened: all of my razors suddenly started giving me really fine shaves. My early technique was obviously the problem.

As a Newbie, I have learned how to keep my professionally sharpened razors sharp with a razor stone and a leather strop. I hope to learn honing in the future so I can set my own bevels. I had one razor that Shooter 74743 was kind enough to sharpen for me and it went from a C+ shave to an A+ shave, so if the technique is good, a professional honing makes all the difference. This was a Henckels 401. He discovered a bevel had never been set on the razor. Before I sent it, it cut hair on my arms but just wasn't smooth when I tried to shave. After he finished, every inch of the razor was superb.

In my limited experience:
Poorly sharpened razor = bad shave
Poor technique = bad shave
Poor pre-shave preparation = bad shave
Bad frame of mind = bad shave
The problem is to discover which is causing the bad shave.

If the razor is sharp with a good bevel and a good honing polish and the pre-shave preparation is good, the only thing left is technique. In my case, it took a 100 shaves to even begin to become consistent in my technique. I feel for your frustration and wish you well. If you can eliminate the sharpness of the razor from the equation, it will help you know what to do.

Originally Posted by ats200

Maybe you could ask the company to describe their honing process? If they describe it in a way that isn't correct then you'd know for sure. If they seem like they have the process right it may be your technique or they just didn't execute correctly. Who knows? It could truly be any number of factors but I'd start with questioning the people who honed the blade if you feel your technique is good enough to determine a sharp blade.

yeah, that's what i plan on doing. the store isn't open til tomorrow, so i'll explain the whole situation to them and ask them what they did to sharpen it, etc. thanks everyone for the advice and i'll let everyone know about the outcome in the end.

also, for everyone who told me to send it to Utopian to sharpen, i probably will end up doing that. i just don't want to touch the razor til i get everything figured out with the company.

if anyone cares, i called the company today and informed them of my situation. they told me that they sent straight razors out to a company in nj to sharpen it. they told me to bring it back down with the receipt and they will REsharpen it. i didn't want to call twice in one day, but i'm going to call again tomorrow and ask them what the company they send it to uses to sharpen straight razors. hopefully they hone them, which i would think they do since they send it to a 'specialist'. so we'll see, and as promised earlier, i'll keep everything posted.

Sounds a bit strange that they waited until now to tell you they outsourced it!

If it were me I'd request my money back and use it to send it to someone here from the member services section

Originally Posted by ats200

Sounds a bit strange that they waited until now to tell you they outsourced it!

If it were me I'd request my money back and use it to send it to someone here from the member services section

i did request my money back, but they said they can't do it. after i figure out how the razor is sharpened, if i'm not satisfied then i'll try my best to get the money back. if not, i'll just call it a beginner mistake and send it to someone from the forum offering the service.

In that case, bring the razor back with a can of shaving foam and a mirror and tell them you'd like to see one of THEM shave with it. If they are unwilling or unable, then ask for your money back again.

Originally Posted by Utopian

In that case, bring the razor back with a can of shaving foam and a mirror and tell them you'd like to see one of THEM shave with it. If they are unwilling or unable, then ask for your money back again.

hahaha that's not a bad idea at all. if everyone goes wrong with getting it sharpened, you'll be getting a PM from me due to popular demand.