Hone help needed?

OK. I have a straight razor and a leather strop. I got the razor from an SMF member who said he wanted to try straight shaving but it wasn't for him. I gave the razor a couple passes on my forearm against the grain of the hair and all the hair was still standing no worse for wear. So I figured it is not shave ready! :D Like I said I have a strop but thought I would like to get this shave ready so I have a good starting point. Can someone point me to someone who can hone a razor up? It is just a regular user grade razor that I am going to give a go to see if I can handle open blade shaving so it doesn't need the pro treatment. After I decide if I can handle it then I will decide if I want to get the whole hone set up.

Thanks
Charlie

Hey Charlie,

Good to see you here! For those of you who may not know, Charlie is a well respected member of SMF and B&B. And in case you missed it...a Florida Gators fan! Contact Lynn (adjustme69), Joe Chandler (Joe Chandler) or Randy Tuttle (Randydance062449) about honing your razor. These guys are the best!

I look forward to your participation here at SRP!

RT

Welcome aboard Charlie. For starters, tell us which razor/strop you got from the member, just so we know he didn't unload a Zeepk or a MasterUSA on you. Both Joe and Lynn offer highly praised honing services. I am not sure about Randy as he got ticked off with people sending him severely damaged blades "for honing". If the blade is damaged it may need a re-grind and Joe would be a better bet as he also does re-grinding.

Hey thanks for the warm welcome! Yep I do see some familiar names arround here as well. The strop is one of Tony Miller's seconds. I got it a few months ago along with the razor but just haven't had the time to set aside to get the blade honed and then to use it for a while. The original scales were mismatched so I got the cheap plastic dovo's offered on classic shaving and now they are what is on it. Then the holidays came and the stuff has sat. Now I am able to send it out and get ready for things to slow down a little so I can set some time aside to try it out once it is shave ready. Here is a scan of the blade. Like I said it now has the dovo black plastic scales so don't worry about that.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y19...r_b8/stra3.jpg

Alan AFDavis11 has offered to hone it for me so it should be on it's way after Christmas.

So I am starting new with straights but I am very familiar with DEs, brushes, soaps and all that so I am not starting from scratch. Well I look forward to taking the plunge here as well! :tu

Thanks guys!

Lol yeah, people here kept talking about SMF, so one day when the SRP was slow and I was bored, I came over to check it out. This blade looks like it will make a good shaver once Alan finishes with it. Next time you need to re-scale a blade, think about the following options:
1) Ordering a set from Jason (Toxik) or Gary (garythepenman). They both do amazing work at about $30-40 a pop (on average).
2) Making your own (check out the help files and also the restoration forum, they're full of amazing info)
3) Buying a nicer set from CS. I'd get either wood or horn. Bone's a bit on the heavy side but still functional. Avoid SS, they're way too heavy for good balance.

Doing your own pinning is easy, just check out the restoration forum.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

Lol yeah, people here kept talking about SMF, so one day when the SRP was slow and I was bored, I came over to check it out. This blade looks like it will make a good shaver once Alan finishes with it. Next time you need to re-scale a blade, think about the following options:
1) Ordering a set from Jason (Toxik) or Gary (garythepenman). They both do amazing work at about $30-40 a pop (on average).
2) Making your own (check out the help files and also the restoration forum, they're full of amazing info)
3) Buying a nicer set from CS. I'd get either wood or horn. Bone's a bit on the heavy side but still functional. Avoid SS, they're way too heavy for good balance.

Doing your own pinning is easy, just check out the restoration forum.

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Oh yeah. I am deffinatly the type that will be making scales and messing arround like that as well, but one step at a time. First step is to use a good piece and get to know what it is like.

Welcome to the forum Charley.



Terry

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gatorade

So I am starting new with straights but I am very familiar with DEs, brushes, soaps and all that so I am not starting from scratch. Well I look forward to taking the plunge here as well! :tu

Thanks guys!

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Don't get cocky. I did and had early dissapointment with a real straight. I had ten plus years with a DE and/or injectors and a couple months with a shavette to develop, but the first time stroping I rolled an edge on a honemeister perfect razor and had a worse shave than a DE can give after a month of bouncing around in a box of rocks.

This isn't to discourage. I now get a perfectly enjoyable smooth shave from a cheap cheap Ebay razor with Williams mug soap and a boar brush. Just remember ther are a lot of different skills that come together in perfect harmony to give the perfect shave.

Good luck, and happy journey!!!:tu