Just received my first straight courtesy of an SRP member, advertised as shave ready. Blade surface was a bit tarnished, so I buffed it up a bit with some simichrome paste. Still waiting for a starter strop from Tony Miller, so I (attempted) to strop on the back of an old belt, trying to keep the blade flat on the surface. Tried the hanging hair test, and got it to cut once, but failed another few times... hmmm.

I figured I would try it out anyway, so lathered up with a boar bristle brush and sample of C&E Sienna cream (still awaiting my badger brush and Taylor's Avocado), and carefully made a with the grain pass. I don't think the razor cut a single hair, I looked the same as before I started, in fact worse with a couple nics. Lathered up again and tried a few spots against the grain, and my results were even worse: no hairs cut and now a great deal of irritation. The razor isn't gliding in any sense of the word, it's definitely dragging. Made a quick WTG pass with a Mach III, no lather, and took off almost all the hairs I missed. When a Mach III drags less than a straight, something is wrong.

I'm thinking it very likely that I ruined the hone with poor strop technique, but I thought I'd ask. Help save my shave!