New member from the Deep South

Hi everyone, Garrett here from Southern Mississippi. I've been lurking these forums educating myself for a little over a year now.

I've had a full beard for over 5 years, and with a degree and whatnot, it comes time to shed the beard for a "professional" job.

I make my own knives and figured if the beard must go, it had better be done with a more dangerous and single bladed instrument. I'm currently in the process of finding an antique SR that I can use my skills restoring to its former glory.

Any advice and help is greatly appreciated. Looking forward to gleaning help from and contributing to the information amassed over the years by the members here.

–Garrett Robinson

Welcome,,,,,,,,,,Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Ty

Welcome aboard Cgr41092. I don't know exactly your experience level but I can say this. Sharpening a straight razor is a completely different ball game from sharpening knives. Now with that said, you might put your location in so that maybe there might be a member here who may be of some help to you. Hopefully, someone will live close to you since some hands on training can be better. You can learn a lot on here though. If you haven't seen the Beginners Guide yet, that would be some good reading for you. That can be found in the library here. You also need to know what to look for when buying from an antique store, flea market, eBay & so on. You can learn that here too & also ask questions. There are many knowledgable members here so ask away. Please feel free to send me a pm if you have any questions. Great to have you here.
Good luck my friend.

Welcome, Garrett.

Thanks a bunch, guys! I've already read through most of the beginners guide, and took it upon myself to run out to an antiques shop nearby to see their inventory.

They happened to have a Carl Monkhouse on sale, despite its good condition. I figured it'd be better to ruin a $20 razor learning to hone rather than busting up a new one.

That said, as soon as I make it to my computer, I'll update my profile information, as the site gave some notice as to its incompatibility with mobile devices.

–Garrett

Welcome.
What part of Southern Ms? Gulf Coast?
I'd check out youtube for vid's. Lynn (and I think Glen) have some good vid's to watch.

Hi and welcome aboard. Check out the workshop and its stickies. Glen is Gssixgun on YouTube and has heaps of great vids. Any questions ask everyone is very helpful here.

When interview time comes I think "ambition" is a characteristic to which you can lay claim! Welcome from a fellow lurker-noobie.

Welcome! I think job 1 is to find a shave-ready razor first so that you get a good feel for how a razor should perform. If you want something restorable, maybe buy a sight unseen from WhippedDog.com. It'll be shave ready, but it very likely won't be pretty and could benefit from restoration skills as you acquire them.

Just a thought.

Welcome aboard Garrett! +1 on getting a shave ready razor, as you really, really need that baseline in order to know what you're "working to" with honing. It's also pretty good advice to work on one skill at a time... meaning you should really, really get a good grip on shaving before you begin learning honing, which is very different from knives. The good news is that if you get an appropriate shave-ready razor, by the time it needs a good honing you should have your shaving skills built up. As mentioned, Whipped Dog would be a great source for a blade requiring some loving & restoration down the line, once you get the shaving skills down (and probably another razor or two, as RAD, "razor-acquisition disorder", is a common malady afflicting those who take up straights). The classifieds here would be a better source for a "prettier" blade to start out with. Good luck, great shaves, and let us know if you have any more questions!

71L

Welcome aboard - take your time, go slow, and enjoy the journey, it's lot's of fun.....:D