A little history: I purchased my Dovo SR in Germany when I was studying abroad in 1990. I don' t know what came over me, but when walking down a street in Cologne, I passed a barber shop that had a really cool display window. I was already a mug and soap shaver, with Bic disposables, but these straights looked intriguing. After speaking in my one-year of German language instruction to the seller, he sold me a razor and a strop for not too many D-Marks. I remember not really understanding a word he said, but he emphasized using the strop and showed me how to do it. I tried to shave with the razor for about a week, and after butchering my face quite a bit, went back to disposables, packed it away and forgot about it until about two months ago when I was cleaning up.

OK, remember 1990 - there was no such thing as email or the internet, and as far as I can remember, no books on the subject at my public library. By trial and error, I'm really lucky I didn't cut of my earlobe or worse.

So, before I started to use my razor, I found some internet resources (this site) and UTube videos and after about a week of "instructed" use, I was starting to get the hang of it. After a month, I was wondering why I waited this long. Now, I am at the point of no return.

So here is my question: I am not sure if the regular use and stropping has made my razor sharper and created a better shave, or if I am just getting better at holding it, consistently stroking and just plain getting better with each shave. I swear it's getting sharper and more comfortable with each daily shave. How long will this last without getting it honed?

Next question, where should I send this to get honed by a pro when it's starting to show the need?