It is astonishing that among the millions of books there is not a single brochure that teaches the art of shaving oneself. This is necessary, because it is virtually impossible for a barber to shave more customers without risking infections, and those who shave themselves have healthier skins. Very few persons know how to care for their razor and attributes.
Most barbers have excellent tools which they use wrong.
There is a critical minimum and maximum for the number of strokes on the hone or strop. The burr resulting from grinding where two planes reach each other, is necessary for wood treating tools, but is the enemy of fine edges. The original term 'affiler' means removing the burr. Razor hones and their different qualities Not all hones are suitable for honing razors. The Levant, the green hones from Spain, and those from Lorraine and the black ones from England, are too soft and have too large pores that create large, weak teeth on the edge that bend or break when touching the face.