I picked up a straight at a local antique place a couple of weeks ago and was eager to use it. I'd read on the forums that it was a good idea to have the razor honed by a pro the first time as a reference. I looked around and found out Bill Ellis lived pretty close to me, so I got in contact with him.

Today, I went over to Bill's house and he honed, rescaled and cleaned up my razor for me free of charge. He went over the basics of honing, stropping, shaving and gave me some straights to practice on. Thanks Bill.

I went home and had to try the razor out. The razor is sharp, my technique is not, but I went nice and slow and got a decent shave with no mishaps.

Bob