Razor pro honed by MAX

So I just bought my first straight razor. After doing some research on this sight and elsewhere online, I bought a slightly used JA Henckels. I own a few pieces of Henckels kitchen cutlery, and I am a fan, so I decided to stay brand loyal here. When I received it, the blade needed some work and was not shave ready. I did an amature job removing the stains on the blade with a Dremel tool, cleaned up some things here and there, and sent it to be honed by forum member Max, in Las Vegas (honestly, if I had come across his site before I bought my razor, I might have purchased one of his). Anyhow, after about a week and $27 (20 for the service plus the cost to ship the razor from NC to NV) I received my honed blade. WOW! You know the noise the Hitori Hanso blades made in Kill Bill... that was all I could think of. I don't know if he took it to 30,000, but it is wicked sharp. Honestly, that was what I paid for and what I expected.
What I didn't expect is what impressed me the most. This was his email to me...

"Honing. Had a test shave. It also passes the HHT. But it's not a reference. The test shave is.
Nice smooth and sharp. Gotta love those Henckels. Since I have the original red/orange paint that Henckels uses I patched and re painted the parts of the engraving that didn't have any paint left. Now it looks like new again. Never ever use a dremel or polishing wheel on the tang with the paint. It doesn't matter if it's the original or re painted. A buffing wheel removes the paint. A cloth or cotton is fine but power tools not. I'm talking experience. I removed some original paint in my early stages that way. Lesson learned. Same with an etching on a blade. Once swipe with the turning wheel and it's gone.I cleaned up the scales and couldn't remove a few of the darker stains which are impregnated into the plastic. There was also a small underneath laying tiny crack/chip but it's no big deal and really not an issue. The edge does have some remaining residual stains/pits but the edge doesn't seem affected by it and the edge looks great.

Basically the razor looks and shaves great.

I'll strop it so you can shave with it out the box.

Oh, and I un-warped the scales as much as I could so it doesn't hit the sides anymore.
Max"

Seriously, I paid him to simply hone, strop, and return the blade, but he went above and beyond my expectations. His communications were excellent, (email and on the phone). The thing is like new, & I highly recommend his service.

Vintage Straight Razors, DE Razors, Honing & Restoration sevices, Sharpening and Shaving

I wanted to get an idea of what to expect from a properly honed/stropped blade. Being that I am the definition of a newbie... this was my first self-given shave with a straight razor, I shaved the backs of my hands to get an idea of what angle to hold the blade, how well it would cut hair, etc. It sounds dumb, but I think it was worth the hair on my hands... Then, I wanted to shave my face with it as soon as I could, and it is great. . I am not confident with my strokes, I work around a goatee, and I have some moles to deal with.... but my blade shaved like butta! Thanks Max!

He's a class act man! Great choice. My hands look like that too from testing blades all the time!!! :D

Red

Yep, the backs of my hands and areas of my arms too. I just hate it when they itch after the hair starts to grow back.:mad:

Chris L

Besides being a superlative craftsman, anyone who spends even a small amount of time with Max also knows what a tremendous fellow he is!

So when I say I am not surprised to hear of your experience, you know what I mean. But thank you very much for sharing it with us, and may all your shaves be Maxical!!:D

James.

Max rules supreme. I bought a few razors from him, and they were all very, very reasonably priced, looked and performed as advertised (actually, better), and all that jazz. He is also an utterly great guy. If we did not already have a bomb, I would nominate Max. And then some.

It's Max's world, we're all just visiting.

Seriously, having known Max for a bit now I can honestly say that he's the real deal. A true gentleman and we're all lucky to have him here.

I've been anxiously awaiting my chance to buy one of his razors. I know mine will come soon, and I know to expect nothing less than the experience you described, and others agree on.

i would also think that there is a great deal of pride that alot of folks take in what they do around here. i have been to several site and you can tell that most of the folks here truely enjoy the art of what is done here. it is still great to here that there are folks out there with pride and a good attude for what they enjoy.

Though I have yet to call on his services, as a newebie to these forums I was impressed by his welcoming, helpful attitude and sincere communication - truly a too rare thing these days!

I sent my great grandfathers razor to him to get rescaled. He did an unbelievable job. the original scales were warped so i wanted them changed because the blade was near mint. He put the most gorgeous paou scales on it that i could imagine. he polished the blade so much i can see my nose hairs in it. max is the man. i would recomend him anytime

Bought a Koeller Gun Metal off of Max from the classifieds months ago. A real beauty and shave ready. Nice price too and still holding an edge. :tu

Yeah, I have spots on my arm from testing sharpness. :rolleyes:

Your arm hair looks like mine...do people sometimes call you a werewolf like they do me? ;)

"Yeah, I have spots on my arm from testing sharpness.

Your arm hair looks like mine...do people sometimes call you a werewolf like they do me? "

Not to my face. They might get back-handed with my stubbly hands,

Don't know max really, but I'll tell you that when I asked him for some advice he went out of his way to help me out...real class act

I really feel humbled by all the replies and kind words. In general we only hear the negatives in life so once in a while it's good to hear some positives.

The most important in all this is to show and make newbies feel comfortable and safe using any of the experienced and credible people who offer their services for the purpose needed from SRP.

I can vouch for Max and his work since I already bought 2 of his razors and send out all my razors to be honed by him.
First class service and top notch work. Highly recommended to anyone.