Thread: 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! 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.



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!

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.

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.

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

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!

Thanks guys!

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!!!