Thought I would share a recent shave story.

As a new to straights person I have been reading a bunch about honing and shaving. Recently I have purchased a set of Norton hones and the Hand American strop set. Along with help from other SRP members and practice I have began to learn how to hone and shave.

I now have 9 razors that were purchased from EBay. They all have been honed by me and shaved with. I have become comfortable shaving with these razors, doing a pretty good job I thought.

Yesterday I received my new Henckels Friodur razor. I was pretty excited about getting it so I quickly put i on the .5 chrome Ox and then the .25 diamond and then a leather stropping. It popped hair easier than any other razors I had honed, way easier.

My first pass down my right cheek brought blood right out in the middle of my cheek. My first thoughts were WOW. I backed off on pressure and went further down my face and brought more blood at the chin line. By this time I really new I needed to back off on pressure. Went over to the left side and brought more blood exactly where I did on the left side. By now I am wondering if I even know how to shave. While shaving my neck and chin area I had blood running down both sides of my face. I thought it looked pretty wild with red blood and white shaving cream.

I managed to stop cutting myself and finish my second pass shave. This shave was definitely the smoothest shave yet!

I now know what sharp is! I will give it another try in a couple days, after healing up!