Thread: Honing/sharpening service recommendations in NYC?

This is exactly why I wanted to learn how to hone my own razors. For years I would take them somewhere or send them to someone through a knife or cutlery shop only to get them back in non-shaving condition and having been put on belts or grinding stones which obviously didn't work.

Like everything else, there is a little learning curve and some equipment is better than others, but in my opinion, it is worth the quest.

Have fun,

Lynn

FWIW, my situation was very similar to yours. I bought an AOS / TI and Dovo strop from AOS. Got started. Made some serious newbie mistakes similar to yours, and decided to give honing a try.

I've been working on honing for about a month now, and I'm able to get a previously shave ready back to having that loving feeling. I knew that I had quite a learning curve, so I did some research on here and purchased another shave ready (for use in the meantime, start of a collection, and just curious about other brands) from a different vendor.

From my experiences of the past 6 or 7 weeks, I would get another shave ready razor and do some research on an appropriate hone setup. The info in the wiki and threads are killer. Be patient. That was the hardest thing for me to do.

Good luck dude. BTW, I also want 6 more razors now...

Thanks, all. I'm digging into the wiki and watching videos - will probably order a set of stones later today, once I feel clear on what I need.

Brad, if you haven't seen it already, you should go to the NYC Meet in early May also. You can pick up some great tips on honing while you are there.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/get-t...may-1-2-a.html

I live in NYC and am a budding honeist (spelling?)
Anyway, I don't know everything but I'd be glad to share what I do know.
But the May meet, if we find a place, will be the spot to be.

At the last meet, I remember someone else saying the went through the same thing as you - they went to AOS, got recommended to a knife shop, and got back a trashed edge. You should never ever let anyone try to sharpen your blades unless they specifically say they can do razors. I'd never let a knife person touch my razors.

+1 on attending the meet. Maybe I'll see you there.

Brad,

Good advice above. The only comment I would make is that you should have some time shaving with a straight before you try your hand at honing. The NYC meet in May and Magpie are good options. Next would be to send the razor to Lynn for honing or one of the other people that offer that service in the classified section of this site. That way the shop is as close as you mail box. If you do go that route the small boxes available at the post office with lots of padding (bubble wrap) is a better way to send it.

Thanks for the Vote of confidence Joe! I just wish I could say I was as good as you or Dylan when it came to honing. I can make em shave ready, but you do it faster, and easier, and probably better. But practice makes perfect!

Someone should beat those AOS guys...knife sharpener for a razor? Pssh!

They should be forced to shave with edges "sharpened" by those people until the end of time.

For what it's worth, I recently took my razor to Westpfal & Co and was disappointed in the result.

Granted, I'm pretty new to this and my razor isn't great (I bought it in pretty good condition at a flea market a few months ago), but after the sharpening it seemed in far worse condition than before. I even brought it back to Westpfal and they sent it for a second sharpening free of charge (they have a guarantee of some sort), but it wasn't any better than after the first sharpening. I did strop it before each shave after (something I'm also new at), but I don't think that's the problem.

It's a pity, because it's a nice little shop and I would have liked to support their business.