Been using a straight for about a year and still have a ton of questions !!!

[Rcigar]

Hello all,

I want to say hello and introduce myself to the group. My name is Rich I am 42 and am a cop from Southern New Jersey. I have been shaving with a straight for a little more than a year and love it. I purchased my first straight from Excaliber Cutlery and it came "Shave Ready". I don't own a hone but I do strop. I just find that I don't get a great shave anymore. Should I buy a hone and do it myself or should I send it to someone? I just don't know who to send it to. I should mention that I have purchased a few others from yard sales and have found a couple shave better than my new one. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[Moosiker]

Send it to a professional to get honed - you'll be amazed at the difference. Actually, send them all!

[Zephyr]

Welcome to SRP Rich!

Send them out for honing, there are several members offering honing service in the classifieds, or you can send them to SRD and let Lynn hone them.

You should at least get a couple professionally honed before you start practice hining yourself, that way you will have some reference razors so you know what to aim for

[randydance062449]

I agree with the above....send them out to be honed. That way you will really find out what "razor sharp"
really means. Look in the SRP Classified Ads section under Services for those who offer honing.
To maintain the edge be sure to strop just before each and every shave, 30-50 roundtrip laps. The next item you should purchase is an abrasive pasted paddle strop. That will allow you to "touch up/refresh the edge" when it starts to pull. A lot of us use an abrasive that is 0.5 microns in size. Either chrome oxide on leather or diamond on felt.

Hope this helps,