Thread: A few questions from a beginner.

I am very pleased to see the great support I am having here; I saw that strop-shop.co.uk offers honing service, so that would be a first starting point in terms of places I can get my razor honed.
I tried to find more info on my razor: its a Thiers-Issard french brand, Le Dandy(ref picture in first post)_(one of the only razor makers in the E.U, with some in Germany). My blade/model is one of the first which was designed in the 1850, and sold abroad(i.e USA).
Here is an old ad sheet: http://www.thiers-issard-sabatier.co.../1109_g(f).jpg
However, I have not found what kind of honing needs to be done, I think it has had a first honing job done with low grade stones; when I pass my index on the blade there is not "friction". I can see a few micro ships(since I can see it with my eyes these are maybe bigger than micro ships, you can see it on the picture I attached with my first post.
Quality wise, its worth more than 130$, so its a good razor.
I can definitely see some kind of honing, when I flick the blade in the light. But I also know its not sharp enough to shave with. Maybe the bevel has been done . . .
I wonder if I can get it sharp enough with a strope? I guess not :P
I will go through more threads so I have a better idea of what kind of strop I need and where can I get the blade honed.

Is it a new 'Le Dandy'. TI's stuff is still pretty good, love that ad by the way. Neil Miller has a very good rep and one day I will avail myself of his services. As yet I've only had experience of Steve at the Invisible Edge and if Neil's as good (and I have no reason to believe he isn't, his posts here are great), then you won't be disappointed. Good luck.

Why don't you simply head over to the Wiki and read the honing section? It will answer all your questions, and more. If the blade has chips in it (if they are visible with the naked eye, they are not micro chips but an indication of a real problem, eg someome hitting a faucet with the blade). In any event, send the razor out to have it professionally honed. There are several vendors in the UK (or elsewhere in Europe) who offer honing services.

Price says little about a razor, by the way. TI have been known to have shoddy quality control in the past, and some of their razors are certainly not worth the money that was charged for them. Whether or not your particular razor is good can only be found out by shaving with it.

Instead of reading random threads, read the Strop Reviews - Straight Razor Place Forums. Most of them were written by senior (as in long time, not 100 posts) members of this forum, and will tell you a lot about the quality of the reviewed strops. You can also sort the reviews by various ratings, using the category tools link.