Thread: Starting out in Monterrey, Mexico

Welcome to the forum Manuel. Good luck getting your razor honed. You have a quality razor in a TI. Be careful not to ruin it straight away.

Yes, do make sure that it is hand honed on stones, by someone that hones razors, not a knife shop that is going to put it on a belt sander or grinder.

Most knife shops feel there is no difference in sharpening a knife and a razor, but there is, and machines will remove a lot of metal from your new razor. You may have better luck asking an old barber where to get it honed.

Originally Posted by wayne394

Welcome to the forum Manuel. Good luck getting your razor honed. You have a quality razor in a TI. Be careful not to ruin it straight away.

I will certainly do my best!

Originally Posted by Euclid440

Yes, do make sure that it is hand honed on stones, by someone that hones razors, not a knife shop that is going to put it on a belt sander or grinder.

Most knife shops feel there is no difference in sharpening a knife and a razor, but there is, and machines will remove a lot of metal from your new razor. You may have better luck asking an old barber where to get it honed.

Agree. I think it is going to be hard to find. I'll get back to you soon....

Old barbers are your best bet, they may even hone it for yours.

Don’t know what it is like in Mexico but here in the US barbers can not use old Straight Razors (have to use disposable) and often you can pick up nice rare, old gear from them, Razors, stones and strops.

At the least they will know where to get it honed correctly.

Hi Manuel & welcome to SRP. Sorry I’m late to the welcome party. I had computer issues yesterday so it took a lot of my time. Sadly their razors don't come shave ready but if you send it to a pro to be honed, you will then know the difference from a pro honed shave ready razor & just another you happen to get. It would be a great idea for you to get a 2nd straight for when you do send one out to be honed, you will always have one to shave with in the future. You might find the Beginners Guide in the Library section a good start & then go from there. You can practice on your strop with a butter knife to prevent from cutting up a good or new strop. Should that happen, you can always sand it out with sandpaper or glue it back down with super glue (CA) or rubber cement. You will find a lot of great information here plus many knowledgable members so if you have any questions, just ask & you will receive many replies. I'm in the Houston, TX area so we're just a few hundred miles apart. Oh, we'd like to see your T.I. when you get a chance.
Good luck my friend!

Originally Posted by Euclid440

Old barbers are your best bet, they may even hone it for yours.

Don’t know what it is like in Mexico but here in the US barbers can not use old Straight Razors (have to use disposable) and often you can pick up nice rare, old gear from them, Razors, stones and strops.

At the least they will know where to get it honed correctly.

I doubt barbers in Mexico are regulated at all. They can probably use whatever equipment they wish to use and there is no way they need to be certified by anybody... haha...

Originally Posted by engine46

Hi Manuel & welcome to SRP. Sorry I’m late to the welcome party. I had computer issues yesterday so it took a lot of my time. Sadly their razors don't come shave ready but if you send it to a pro to be honed, you will then know the difference from a pro honed shave ready razor & just another you happen to get. It would be a great idea for you to get a 2nd straight for when you do send one out to be honed, you will always have one to shave with in the future. You might find the Beginners Guide in the Library section a good start & then go from there. You can practice on your strop with a butter knife to prevent from cutting up a good or new strop. Should that happen, you can always sand it out with sandpaper or glue it back down with super glue (CA) or rubber cement. You will find a lot of great information here plus many knowledgable members so if you have any questions, just ask & you will receive many replies. I'm in the Houston, TX area so we're just a few hundred miles apart. Oh, we'd like to see your T.I. when you get a chance.
Good luck my friend!

Thanks engine46! I need to find a way to justify the second razor to my wife... hahaha... But I do think I'll have to do that. Do you know which online stores sell truly shave ready razors other than SRD?

P.S. I'll post a pic of the TI once I get back home

Originally Posted by manuelz

Thanks engine46! I need to find a way to justify the second razor to my wife... hahaha... But I do think I'll have to do that. Do you know which online stores sell truly shave ready razors other than SRD?

P.S. I'll post a pic of the TI once I get back home

Manuel,
SRD is the best I know of but a place called whippeddog seems to have a good reputation for having shave ready straight razors. If you buy one from SRD, Lynn, the owner of this forum & an owner of SRD, hones & strops each new straight before it goes out to it's new home plus you get a free honing for when it needs it. Also if you look in the Classsifieds here, there are members who sell shave ready straights & you might even get a better shipping price but none of them would want to tarnish their reputation on here so if they say they are shave ready, they are.

As promised, here are a couple of pics of my TI: