Honing in Australia

[eggbert]

Several times over the years I have thought about trying out a straight razor, but never gotten around to doing anything about it.

On another forum I recently saw someone talking about them, and it got interested again.

Cue me doing a little internet research, and then (possibly rashly) a little ebaying, where I ended up with the following:





The razor is a (french) Kabrand, and to my mind is in better condition than those photos (lifted from ebay) depict. The blade is reasonably sharp, but not sharp enough to shave with, and there are a few dark marks on it that I hope i can polish out.

I am not so sure about the strop. I have cleaned it up a little from the photo. It has a rough and smooth side (like a belt) but I'm not sure what condition it is meant to be in, let alone be able to compare it to anything. On the first forum I joined (and who recommended I also come here) I was told that after a clean up, it might still be ok.

Would any of you be willing to take a look at the razor, and if it looks ok give it a good hone, so that in future I know what I am looking for when I learn to hone myself? I will, of course, pay for any service, and cover (as I live in FNQ and doubt any of you do) postage costs.

Regards,

Eggbert

[Sunbird]

Hi Eggbert,

Welcome to the Straight Razor fraternity. I see you are in FNQ not far from Townsville..

Check out the Vendors corner for guys to hone razors in Australia.

Cheers

[Jimbo7]

Sorry to derail this conversation, but I did a semester at James Cook Uni in Townsville in 2004. Loved every minute of it. I wish you good luck, sir!

[Sunbird]

Jimbo7, we survived cyclone Yasi sleeping in a safe building at JCU after being evicted from our homes due to tidal surge risks. My wife is a JCU lecturer.
Townsville is a good place to live but lacks wet shaving suppliers!!

[Jimbo7]

I hear you, man. Minneapolis is much the same way. Instead of all this shaving silliness, why not just spritz some Bundaberg on your face? It did a spectacular job removing entire nights from my memory, I would think it could remove a few whiskers without much trouble!

[onimaru55]

G'day & welcome to SRP. IIRC there were a few guys in QLD who can hone a razor but I haven't seen much if any forum activity from them lately.
Their usernames : (Jimbo) (Greg Frazer) (bg42). A PM to any of these may get you some help but I'm not sure how any of them fared in the recent floods.
Baldy is also in Coffs Harbour & may be a good option.
MickR is also in QLD & makes a nice roo strop at a reasonable price if the one you have is unsaveable.
If you strike out with these guys I'm in Sydney & may be able to help tho from those pics the edge looks a bit disturbing.

[eggbert]

Thanks all for your responses.
I was hoping that the little black marks were not indicative of a fatal problem, but maybe they are going on Oz's remarks up there.
I have taken a few close-up shots of one of those marks, but can't find the cable which links my camera to the pc (these things are hard to get good pics of aren't they?) at the moment, but will upload them when it appears. So hopefully someone can say whether it looks recoverable from one of the better shots.
I think I might wait a while and pick up a decent, affordable straight from someone here before sending this one out to be told it is a goner.

[MickR]

Mate, I'm no honing maestro like I know Oz and Jimbo to be, but I do up-keep my own razors to my own satisfaction. They are already razors with no issues though, but I would still be willing to have a go for you, if you cover the postage here and back. I won't charge you since I'm not making any claims to fame. And don't be to distressed by Oz saying it may be a bit dodgy at the edge. He has performed miracles before now, with a Bengall of mine, that is on my favourite razor list. You could always just go straight to Oz and have it professionally assessed and honed right from the outset. I recommend his service to anyone here in Australia.

I will also take a look at the paddle strop for you and give you my thoughts on that from a leather side of things if you like.


Mick

[onimaru55]

I have restored razors with rusty edges but rust above the current bevel is the killer. It's often luck if they survive without a few microchips when you keep running into pitting.