Straight Edge Razors Sharpened

At the Sharpening Shack, we will hone your straight razor and restore its shaving sharp edge using the same time-honored and proven Hand-Honing, Lapping, and Stropping Techniques employed by professional barbers for over 400 years. This service applies to razors which have become dull through normal use and require "routine resharpening" only. Whether you have a antique carbon steel straight razor or a modern stainless steel straight edge razor, we can sharpen it!!!

Our Straight Razor Sharpening Service includes the following:

• Removal of any minor nicks in blade
• Removal of minor rust (note: black tarnish or pitting cannot be removed without altering straight razor)
• Sharpening blade with use of multiple whetstones up to 12,000 grit
• Honing and polishing of blade with up to 30,000 grit
• Minor buffing of scales
• Disinfect straight razor
  (hospital-grade, EPA approved broad-spectrum disinfectant. Proven effective against HIV-1, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Staphylococcus, Pseudomonas, Salmonella, Clostridium Difficile, MRSA, Vancomycin Resistant Enterococcus (VRE), Herpes, Influenza (including H1N1), “Athletes Foot” (Tinea Pedis) Complies with OSHA's blood borne pathogens standard U.S. EPA-registered hospital-grade, broad-spectrum disinfectant)
• Apply anti-rust formulation to protect your expensive straight razors

Cost: $20 for Carbon Blades and $22 for Stainless Blades

Additional Services:

• Remove minor blade issues caused by improper stropping, "blade frown" - add $5 to cost above
• Correction of "un-even edge" - add $5 to cost above
• Straight Razor Restoration & Polishing Services ( click for more information)

Only by shaving with a properly sharpened razor can one appreciate the optimal quality, comfort, and closeness of a straight razor shave. Whether hand-honing your razor is an art you have not yet mastered or a chore you prefer not to do, we will do it for you.

Types of Straight-Edge Razors Sharpened:
Straight-Edge Razor (Carbon Steel)	Straight-Edge Razor (Stainless Steel)
Carbon steel straight-edge razors are easier to sharpen but more brittle, liable to chipping and staining.	Stain-resistant steel straight razors take longer to sharpen and hone, but results in the edge holding longer, and the edge is less vulnerable to chipping.

Straight Razors handcrafted by Thiers-Issard
a prestigious French razor maker since 1884

"New Razor" Sharpness - The Reality Do they shave out-of-the-box?

The short answer is; "Sometimes." To understand why (or why not) you need to know a bit more about how straight razors are made or more precisely, how they are sharpened. There is no razor manufacturer to our knowledge that actually hand-hones a razor's edge the way it's owner or user would. Frankly, the reasons for this are as much economical as practical. Anyone who has ever succeeded in achieving the perfect hand-honed razor edge knows that doing so is a time and labor intensive process even when performed by an experienced person.

For a manufacturer to hand-hone every razor edge would reduce production levels to such a low number that the resulting cost of each razor would be prohibitive for anyone other than the wealthiest people. In any manufacturing process certain trade-offs are inevitable - most are necessitated by the requirements of maintaining acceptable production quantities and keeping the selling price affordable. The final step in the manufacture of a straight razor is applying the finest edge possible within the aforementioned limitations.

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Factory sharpening of straight razors is a combination of machine and hand and there's very little "honing" to it. The shaving edge of a razor is applied by use of a very fine abrasive disc, much in appearance to that of a record album on a turntable. The razor's edge is lightly held to the flat surface of the spinning disc. The razor's back is held up, away from the disc in order to prevent damage to any decorative plating or filework. The edge is then ground equally on both sides.

By now the variable factors should be apparent. Was the edge actually ground equally on both sides? Was the razor's back raised to exactly the same height for both sides of the edge? How many razors were previously sharpened using the same disc? How long since the disc was dressed or replaced? How experienced was the craftsman? Was this the last razor sharpened before lunch or on Friday afternoon, or the first on Monday morning?

So now you know.... We would be more than happy to touch and sharpen or hone and new straight razor.

Please Note:

1. Many of the "Low Priced - (under $40 from China and Pakistan) straight razors you find on the internet (Ebay) are heavy, large spine razors that have to have the blade modified in order to shave. To get the blades to the shaving condition it will be cosmetically altered to the point most would consider the straight razor destroyed. With that warning we advise you keep these types of straight razors for collector purposes only.
2. Major rust and pitting cannot be removed without a chemical bath or buffing, both of which can alter or erase etching, patina and radically change the cosmetic look of the straight razor. Again we advise that you do not ask us to remove this type of rust or pitting if you want to save any gold-leaf or certain chemical etching. Deep engraved etching is never and issue..