Thread: Why does my new Wapi shave so differently?

I just got a new Wapi yesterday, it was only pocketknife sharp and took a lot of strokes (stone, film, paste, strop) to get its less than full hollow blade to pop hanging hair, and no matter what I tried, it didn't quite "feel" as sharp as some of my other (all full hollow) razors. Maybe that's why full hollows took over the market more that a hundred years ago.

I was anxious to give it a try, preped normally, gripped the razor and wow, those stout, Warsaw Pact, social realism scales really throw off the balance of the piece. Anyway, once I started shaving, it was smooth, real smooth. All my other razors are full hollow and tend kind of vibrate and jump around as they cut beard. In fact after a few swipes with the Wapi, I checked with a fingertip to feel if it was cutting at all. (For a second I thought I might have inadvertantly knocked the edge completely off it and was scraping off lather with a butter knife-like edge.) WTG, XTG and ATG it shaved like a champ.

Is this kind of performance common with more wedgy razors or is it just the magic of super beefy stainless scales.