Thread: been shaving for a few months

Alright i have been shaving with a str8 for almost 3 months now and i have gotten much better.. i only use a str8 to shave. i do not use my mach whatever at all.. the only thing i have to keep my razor sharp is a strop.. i understand that i will need to send it off to get honed every so often .. i was told about 2 or 3 times a year. Will stropping my razor before and after every shave keep it good until i send it to be honed or should i use something else other than a strop. from what i under stand honing a razor is not that hard.. it's just harder to do it right.. and i know i am pushing it here but one more question. there is a guy on my street that has a knife and tool sharping shop in his house.. should i bother asking him if he can hone my razor or is sharping knives and stuff way diffrent?
sorry for all the questions..
if only one gets answered i thank you.
warghoul88

Unless the knife guy has experience with sharpening razors and preferably uses one himself, chances are not good. You don't say whether your razor came straight from the factory or properly pre-sharpened. If the former it may well be useful to send it out anyway. Once the edge is good, maintenance is not so difficult and since you seem to have adopted the method with enthusiasm, it's something that you're going to want to learn sooner or later. Good luck.

I got it at aos. I know that there not really shave ready but it does the job for me no razor burn or anything like that. I'm going to talk to the guy on my street. I guess I'm gonna have to get some stones send a few of my razors off to get honed and pick one to start learning on.

I would just use a high grit hone and do a search on touch ups. It's wicked easy to do this your self.

Just 5-6 passes on the stone, using no pressure, flip on the spine, don't let the razor lift.

Go slow, really slow, really really slow. Strop.

Your done.

Don't talk to any knife sharpener about anything other than knife sharpening and the weather.

Warghoul--great post--we joined SRP at the same time--sounds like you're getting better results than me, but I've had the same questions on honing as you. Let me steal your post and ask a question also--I bought a Norton combo stone--4000/8000 grit. Could I do 6 or 8 touch up strokes on the 8000 side and be okay?

Thanks for letting me steal your thread. I'll shut up now.

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

I would just use a high grit hone and do a search on touch ups. It's wicked easy to do this your self.

+ 1 to this. You might start here: Category:Honing - Straight Razor Place Wiki

It is possible your local guy may hone a superior edge...

BUT (you knew that was coming)

how would you know.

Many seasoned resources available in the classifieds. Fees for honing IMO are more than reasonable there. You can be assured that the razor is not only sharp but also smooth. Remember just being sharp doesn't make a comfortable shave.

I feel safe to say, once you have shaved a while with properly honed blades, can you fairly judge the quality of an unknown sharpener.

As you pointed out, very seldom do you need a razor honed, so waiting shipping time sounds reasonable, imo

I've been shaving with a straight for only a few months too and have at times been having trouble keeping a keen edge. So this isn't the voice of experience talking. But......

Have you considered getting a "barbers" hone? They are abundant and relatively cheap and made for doing the kind of touch ups that you are talking about. Seems like 20-40 bucks will nab you a decent one. Of course if you are wanting to end up with a full set of hones eventually anyway then maybe this isn't for you. Personally I prefer simple and inexpensive solutions. A good barbers hone should keep your blade sharp for pretty much indefinitely. That's a hell of a deal for the same price as sending it out to be honed if you ask me. Stay away from the knife guy in my opinion.