Well, after much stress and questions about the honing of my Dovo Ebony Spike, I went ahead and tackled my first shave. After watching Lynn's DVD, I had my shower, lathered up, and began to strop - 15 linen, 30 leather. Relather, and I was ready to go. Seeing as I keep a beard, my two cheeks and my neck were the areas to tackle.
So first, the positives :)...
1) No nicks! Even with that spike, I made it through 100% blood free!
2) That spike tip lets me cut a nice line... I don't think my beard has ever looked so sharp.
3) I stuck with WTG, and my wife's reaction on feeling my face was "Ooooooh.... I could get used to this."
And now, the negatives :(...
1) I have a wicked swirl of hair on my neck, so that's going to take some figuring.
2) Right handed... left cheek is HARD. Left handed... left cheek is VERY HARD.
3) A couple of tiny little fuzzes at the turning points on the strop ( I turned spine down, I think it was tiny hesitations at the turn)
4) After my shave, I gave my blade a quick wipe on the towel... and I noticed a tiny thread stuck an inch from the spike. Upon closer inspection, there is a very tiny nick. I gave it another 10 on the linen, and then 10 on the leather... it didn't mark the leather at all. I'm not sure if it was there before (I'm going to assume no seeing as it was honed from Classic), but I have no idea when I did it. I don't notice it at all while shaving, so we'll see next shave.
All in all, I'll call it a success... and I'm already sold!
~m