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As RAZORUS.com, we provide sharpening service for straight razor that have lost their shaving abilities or straight razors which give uncomfortable, irritating shaves. This service is given to brand new straight razors for making them fully shave-ready as well as used straight razors for sharpening and honing.
Our sharpening service consists of following: A comprehensive examination of the straight razor, correcting/renewal of the cutting edge if needed, sharpening gradually with synthetic and/or natural sharpening stones, honing the edge with final razor hones, stropping the edge to a mirror polish until it reaches to HHT4 or HHT5 sharpness level, final sharpness examination, lastly applying special oil to keep the straight razor safe from rust and sending back to its owner. This process may take 1 to 4 days depending on the condition of the straight razor.
We also provide service for Japanese Kamisoris, some special frameback and microtome straight razors, reforming the mouth form, repairing the microchips, re-adjusting the bad bevel angle due to asymmetric spine wear for an extra fee. You are required to send us detailed photos of your straight razor as well as a detailed description of it's problem. Upon evaluation of your razor from the photos, we will contact you regarding the suitability of your straight razor for our service and our service fee.
We cannot offer services for straight razors with big chips or cracks, the ones with heavily worn spines, razors damaged with sandpapers or grinding machines, rusted razors, and razors which are not suitable for shaving or takes extreme time and effort to get an edge.
Straight razors have different shaving characteristics depending on their steels. Some will provide very comfortable shaves, some will have a crispier edge which may be less comfortable. Similarly, some straight razors will have softer steel which needs more often stropping and refreshing the edge with a final stone, and some will have harder steels which will hold their sharpness longer. For example, straight razors coming from Sheffield will generally have softer steels with gentle shaving characteristics, whereas razors made in Solingen will have harder steels most of the time. Also, Japanese hand forged Kamisoris mostly will have special steels, which will reach to extreme sharpness and in no case suitable for beginners.
We have a wide range of equipment from synthetic Japanese stones to natural stones, from diamond pastes to liquid honing mediums. We will provide the best for your straight razors characteristics. HHT (Hanging Hair Test) levels implies the sharpness level of the straight razors. Almost all good straight razors will reach to HHT4 level, but not every straight razor can reach to true HHT5 level which is also not required or suitable for every skin type. We aim to give your straight razor the ideal sharpness it can get with a highly polished final edge for maximum comfort.
It’s difficult to estimate how long a freshly honed straight razor will keep its edge, since it depends on the steel, size of the razor, edge angle, wear level of the spine, whiskers of the user, shave lather and preparation quality and of course the experience of the user. The straight razors have a different cutting feeling that those of shavettes and safety razors with double edge blades. Some people who are new to straight razor shaving may mistakenly think their straight razors are not cutting good enough when they don’t prepare their faces well prior to shave or can’t hold the razor with a consistent angle and pressure. Therefore, we strongly recommend gaining some experience with replaceable blade straight razors (shavettes) before trying straight razors. This is quite important both for your safety, shave comfort and your straight razor.
We will send your straight razors shave-ready. There is no need for stropping for the first use. After the first use, you’ll need to strop your razor, and you’ll also need to strop it before and after each shave to keep the edge sharp. Otherwise it will lose its sharpness quickly. If you do not use your straight razor regularly, we recommend applying a thin coat of oil (especially for carbon steel razors) to keep it rust free. Rust deposits on the edge can ruin it. Please also make sure that your straight razor is fully dry before applying the oil. Remember that, oil prevents the moisture reaching to your razor but it also prevents the vaporization of moisture if your razor is not fully dry.
If you don’t have enough stropping experience, we recommend practicing on a low-cost straight razor and strop, to be on the safe side for your freshly honed straight razor. Please be sure that a very sharp straight razor can be dulled within few seconds with wrong stropping technique. We guarantee our service will provide shave ready result, but we can’t offer guarantee for stropping mistakes which can be revealed easily under a loupe. So, we remind you once more that using straight razor requires high sensitivity and a certain experience with straight razors to be on the safe side.
There are various straight razor brands out there. But along with our experiences, we are unfortunately not successful in reaching to a proper edge with some of them. We therefore request your understanding for not providing sharpening services for below razors:
Amateur hand forged straight razor, any Damascus or high carbon straight razors from Pakistan, India or China, Beauty and Barber (B&B), Best Quality, Cyrill R Salter, Enzo, Fromm, GB Buckingham and Sons, Gierson & Forstoff, Gold Dollar, Good Quality, High Quality, Jacobs USA, Kriegar, Magnum, Master, Mehaz, Naked Armor, New School, Pakistani, Razors designed by Jim Frost, Sanguine, Selective Professional, Simco, Special Quality, Steel Warrior, Sweeney Todd, Timber Rattler, Timber Wolf, Tomahawk, Two Man, Venus, Zeepk, Zeva