[smythe]

Hey! I am not “pushing” anyone’s auction… or criticizing any one… just found this one interesting and figure I would express my humble opinion.

OK so I am browsing the bay again and stumbled across this one.
SHAVE READY straight razor Sheffield - eBay (item 250260255520 end time Jun-23-08 18:30:50 PDT)

Interesting statement from the seller
“I cannot read the tang very well. It is definitely English and a wide blade”
A close-up photo of the tang reveals a partial “arrow” and a familiar “cross”!
He is sure it’s English (Sheffield?), but leaves it to the rest of us to put the clues together.

He has quite a few razors on auction, describes how he hones each razor, good clean quality photos…
...but not a single blade measurement… in any of the auctions.

[Chris L]

Is he a member here?

Shaving off the Norton 8000; he's a more rugged man than I am.

It's probably "pre-crash" when I said this, but my opinion regarding Ebay claims from any seller that a razor is "shave ready" is that it means nothing to me. The obvious reason being that I can hone my own razors, but really what I mean is that I would place no additional value on an Ebay razor with such a claim. Where's the accountability? If I were to buy a razor off BST here and found it not to my liking, I'm confident that down to a man, the seller would touch it up or take it back. Doubtful one would find such protection on Ebay.

I just hope if newbies are buying "shave ready" razors off Ebay, like the seller on this post you've linked to claims, that they're not "doing the math" in arriving at their bid limit; "Let's see, the average honemeister charge from an SRP member is $20, so I'll add $20 to my Ebay bid for that shave ready razor......".

Chris L

[JimmyHAD]

I have asked sellers if the razor has any chips or cracks in the edge of the blade and had them say no there are not. Upon receiving the razor I see chips under magnification. I only buy them if I want that brand though so I am willing to take the shot. Many of the sellers haven't a clue when it comes to razors so I don't blame them unless there is damage that is clearly visible to the naked eye.

Being new to honing I am like a kid with a new toy and I don't mind getting razors that need work as it is good practice. OTOH, it is a lot of work and I can see why one particular seller who always has "Shave Ready" in his auction title gets more for his razors then average.

[Kees]

He seems serious and genuine about honing though. However you will find that shave-sharp means a different thing to different people. Unless he is a recognized honemeister you must be prepared to hone the razor before taking it to your face.

[Mike_ratliff]

If I am understanding his descriptions correctly he has been honing for a month.
I was honing for over a year before I sold my first shave ready razor, and I am still learning new things all the time.

I see a great deal of variances in the quality of his razors, and the fact that he says he has to make several sessions out of every razor concerns me. A decent razor can easily be done in one short session, I usually hone 4 or 5 in one sitting, before I get bored, and need a break.
If the razor has a really bad bevel, chips, or some other critical defect, I might hone that razor in 2 sittings, just to avoid frustration. (the first to remove the defect, and the second to do the finish work)

Having said that, I wouldn't stray away from his razors, I would simply expect to need to touch them up a bit on a 12k, or pasted strop. Assuming his bevels are good, these aren't a bad deal.

[gssixgun]

I agree with all the statements above about e-bay razors being shave ready and about the accountabilty factor of our membership here....
That being said....... I got a razor from Dom1971 over a year ago and it WAS shave ready I stropped it, and it shaved just fine... After a another pasted stropping it really came into it's own....

[canuck77]

I have also bought a couple razors from dom1971, a Boker and a ERN Crown and Sword. They both arrived as described and shave ready. The Boker he sold me was a great deal and super sharp. I sent him an e-mail about his honing process and he explained in his reply that he only does a few strokes at a time on the hone each day. He then explained this process could take up to a month to do. Not a months experiance at honing. He explained this allows for the edge on the razor to relax. Same idea as not using the same razor twice in 24 hours I guess. I am just learning about honing myself so I have no clue if there is any value in this technique.

[Kees]

I hone till I have a sharp edge, occasionally an edge takes more time if it is in really bad shape.

It is not technique Lynn ecommends in his DVD IIRC.