Need help

I just bought my first straight razor and I'm just starting out in this way of shaving. I bought a John S holler blade with the tower stamp on it from an antique store and I need to get it shave ready. Any good tips on how to do this will be much appreciated thank you

Hello and welcome to the forum! Please stop by the hall of fame when you get a chance and introduce yourself.

First, if you post pictures of the razor other members can better assess the condition of your straight. Assuming the condition is ok, my first recommendation is to send it out for a professional honing. Just that and a decent strop will go a very long way. You can try to learn to hone the razor yourself, but I warn you (I've done it) that it will be a long time before you're really getting a good shave from it.

So yeah- 1st PICTURES, 2nd pro honing. That's my advice. Good luck and welcome again!

Where do I send it out to get it a professional honing done

Honing services vary by country. If you add your location to your profile it will help members give you recommendations on services in your area (or at least your country).

Again, if you can please post some photos of the razor in question it helps tremendously, thanks.

Where do I send it out to get it a professional honing done

If you are in the US I can personally recommend:

http://www.gemstarcustoms.com/

Also, there is much valuable info to be found in the B&B wiki if you look.

http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Honemeister

Thank you very much I'll check them out n look at that too thank you again

You might inquire at www.thesuperiorshave.com. I believe Jarrod offers free honing under certain conditions and he is known for putting good edges on the razors he sells. Honing your own razor is a very practical thing to do and also rather enjoyable, but you do need to experience a proper, certifiably sharp shave ready edge before trying to duplicate something that you have never seen yet. It gives you a point of reference, and a standard to emulate or aspire to. Jarrod is a very popular vendor among the members of this forum, treating his customers well and standing behind his products, so have a look at his offerings while you are at his site.

You could also simply buy another razor, already shave ready. Our go-to guy here for shave ready vintage razors on the cheap is Larry, at www.whippeddog.com. After a few shaves, revisit the idea of honing your razor. You should have more than one, anyway.

Cheapest way to get started honing is with lapping film. I suggest reading at least halfway into this mega-thread.

Thank you very much for that info I'll look into that and yeah your right I defiantly need more than one razor. I'll look into that guy you mentioned. Thank you agian