Thread: New to SRS, need info on getting blades sharpened.

I have be toying around with straight razors for about 4 months now and have a couple questions about getting blades sharpened.

I have two razors I am interested in getting honed:
The first was my X-Mas gift from the the wife. It is from the "Art of Shaving" store in Pittsburgh PA and I have read in multiple topics on this board that these razors do not come "shave ready" and that is 100% true.
My razor =
The Art of Shaving - Straight Razors - The Art of Shaving - Buy A Black Straight Razor

The gentleman that sold it to us said that they may need honed annually but that it was good to go. It was sharp enough to take the hair off my arm with one swipe for about a week but that has since changed. I got a leather strop from amazon:
Amazon.com: Fromm Razor Strop 2 1/2" X 23": Health & Personal Care

I have tried to bring it to a fine edge but that seems impossible at this point and I now understand that it may need honed based on the articles I have read. the only thing is none of the articles on the board mention who I should have it honed by. I am a novice in this world and by no means intend to destroy my nice new razor trying to perfect the craft of honing, nor have I dropped the investment in wetstones yet.

On that note I plan to learn the honing process at some point and that is why I purchased this auction on Ebay:
3 Razors 2 Razor Sharpeners | eBay

The strops are dated beyond use but I felt that $10 for three razors to practice on wouldn't be a bad price. It is in this auction that I found a 2nd razor that i would like honed. The Razor was listed as "Barber's Pet Razor #421 in good shape" and it is in what appears as good shape. The blade looks a little thin but the razor just has a nice feel and balance to it IMO.

It is that Razor and the first that I am interested in getting professionally sharpened.
Is it worth it to have the 2nd sharpened? I don't know the true value of that type of razor and would it be more Ideal to find one that is already "shave ready" and just buy it?

It is worth noting that while I was a little angry that Art of Shaving didn't relay info correctly and basically lied about the razor being shave ready (I got a better shave from my $7 straight razor that takes disposable blades that cost 5 cents a piece) the guy did give me some good info and that place sells some awesome pre-shave oil. I will be ordering more of it. It says un-sented but it has a wood sent that is just awesome and feels great. The rest of the store seemed about 50% overpriced on items.

Here

Member Services - Straight Razor Place Classifieds

Welcome to SRP!
Sorry about the aos experience. it is very rare for a razor to come from the factory shave ready some are very close though. Personally, i think you did OK with that auction the torrey and barber's pet look like relatively easy clean ups (i would polish them by hand with some maas or other polish before i tried anything else) and should easily return to great shavers. the scott hardware one can be restored with a bit more work. find a vendor like Glen suggested there might even be some near you if you are lucky.

enjoy,
jim