Hones: Using what I have to the greatest advantage

[loueedacat1]

Gary, I'd put my straights and hones and strops away for a month, use your DE, and come back fresh in four weeks. I bet that will reset your muscle memory and your love for the game, and you'll start enjoying it again.

Sometimes we get into a rut wanting to enjoy something, and it's better to put it down for a while and let the joy come back and find you.

[brothers]

That's good advice Louee. That is definitely an option. Meanwhile, here's my SOTD for Monday 10-25-10. Scroll down to my post which was placed at 9:18 am.

[loueedacat1]

Don't let a W&B convince you that you can't hone. Those are a PIA to hone - I've only gotten mine to work using 3-4 layers of tape and it takes a while to get it right. And they still aren't quite as sharp as the solingen hollows but they are awfully smooth and fun.

But go DE for a while, and come back to honing with normal blades.

[brothers]

Regarding the W&B, even though this one is not a wedge, it started out in sorry shape indeed. It's come a long way, and maybe it's pretty close to taking a wicked edge, as a result of all of the work it's been receiving. It's all together just a small and valuable part of the learning curve.

I'll be able to say, some day soon hopefully, that I took an old W&B and brought it back to (shaving) life. I think I must have been extremely lucky with the 1810 Wade stub tail. It too was the victim of more than a hundred years of disuse and neglect, and because it came along fairly early in my honing curve, it was dumb luck I just happened to get it dialed in exactly right the first time on the hones.

As a matter of fact, it's the very clear memory of that wickedly sharp and smooth first shave that keeps me laughing and honing away on this (beautiful, not near as ugly as that first one) old Sheffield soldier.