Thread: looking for a professional to hone/strop my razor?

Hey everyone! I am a barber from Port Charlotte Florida who is looking for an experienced professional to help me with my razor? I would really like to have it honed/stropped so I can shave with it. This razor was given to me by my Grandmother, it was her fathers razor. I was told that it has been kept in a china cabinet for at least 50 years. When It was given to me, it was dull and in need of some help. I am no expert at this! I use disposable razors in the shop, but would really like to use this razor for personal shaving. If anyone would be able to help me get it shave ready, I would be more than happy to hand it over to you. the razor itself and the shaving station that was given to me with it is very important to me. Which is why I have only polished it myself because I was afraid to ruin it. If anyone would be willing to help me please let me know how we can work that out. thank you so much. -Brett Gunnells-

I would love to help, but I am not a "pro" and I am too far away. I can recommend a few pros if you like, but it is pretty easy to figure out who has done the most honing around here

While the regular big guys would be a solid recommendation, it might be interesting and better serve your desires to seek someone (potentially less of a pro) that is in your area. When I was restoring my prized heirloom, it was very important to me to do it myself...this may not be practical for you, but perhaps you could find a skilled honer in your area that would sit down with you and hone it with you present...it could be a really valuable learning opportunity?

Otherwise, I can personally attest to the quality of work that Glen (gssixgun) does, and Lynn has done thousands of razors also.

See here:
Member Services - Straight Razor Place Classifieds

thank you very much! To be honest I wanted to hone it myself, and actually just watched lynn on youtube show how he does it. But with this razor being an heirloom I would prefer to have someone with more experience hone it. Other razors i intend to purchase I will try and hone myself. I wish I could find someone local to help me but it seems that not to many people in this area are doing it? Thank you again for your help!

Originally Posted by barberbrett

thank you very much! To be honest I wanted to hone it myself, and actually just watched lynn on youtube show how he does it. But with this razor being an heirloom I would prefer to have someone with more experience hone it. Other razors i intend to purchase I will try and hone myself. I wish I could find someone local to help me but it seems that not to many people in this area are doing it? Thank you again for your help!

Why don't you shelf it and wait for the right opportunity?

Perhaps you may find an opportunity to travel to a meet up and have it done there? Perhaps you could buy a couple razors of lesser personal value (get one pro-honed and try to work on the others...this way you will have no-risk practice and a reasonable target to compare with?...then when you are confident, tackle this one?)

Just some thoughts...but that thing is pretty dang old, and has been sitting idle for 50 years...another few months will not kill you or it

Very true!! And I intend to get my hands on some more razors and tackle them myself. I have had other members of the site help me with the age of my razor and it seems to be a 1906-1920? Very old indeed!

and apparently in beautiful condition. I cannot be sure from the image posted, but it appears that honing of that one will not pose any special challenges (impossible to tell for sure...but there are no glaring frowns or chips from what I see...but there may be a slight hook near the stabilizer).

If you like, take some crisp close up images of the edge and share them. I suggest that a lot of people here can determine an amazing amount of info from some good photos.

Best of luck to you!