Hi Gents,
I have been straight shaving for the last year and try honing my own razors. I have had two from reputable guys who supplied razors as shave ready and they did a nice job.

My razors pass the HHT and give a very close shave, I just cant get a very smooth stroke on the ATG cheek and neck passes. I have never had a razor yet where I can go ATG on the top lip as I have seen some guys perform on Utube etc. I would like a razor that goes ATG in a smooth motion, without any tugging. I get a BBS shave but it definitely requires multiple passes to achieve. I dont get any cuts or rash, but dont have a smooth shaving experience.

I have an array of hones and pastes, but cant get the razor smooth on those described passes.

Do you guys experince the same problems and am I asking the razor to do too much, are my expectations too high. Infact I am even toying with the idea of buying an Artist razor where I insert razor blades, hoping this will give me that dream shave. Has anyone else gone down this route and did they get the change that they were looking for.

All the best
London