First post here.

I'm new to straight razor shaving. I started with a new (but bought 30 years ago) Solingen stainless and a vintage C-Mon strop from my father in law. I never could get it sharp enough to shave so it sat in a drawer since then until I asked my barber about how to sharpen it. With some pointers from him, I found a vintage "Crown" razor hone on ebay. That did the trick and I actually shaved with it about 6 weeks ago. I was hooked. I found a well worn Shefield razor on Ebay and a Shumate "Barber" at an antique store. I got both of them HHT sharp using the Crown stone and the strop and enjoyed shaving with them.

With my newfound confidence I found a few more bargains on ebay. A pair of Allegheny Instrument Co razors - clean but worn and relegated to restoration practice pieces, a Wostenholm that needed the bevel set and another Shumate that came almost HHT sharp but very tarnished. Working on the Wostenholm I taped the spine (since is was worn and I wanted to preserve it), used a "Winner" vintage two sided razor hone and started grinding. The edge had become uneven so it took awhile to get the bevel uniform. I worken on it for a couple hours finishing up with the Crown hone. I failed the HHT miserably and wouldn't even shave my arm. Starting over, I took a Sharpie and marked gently from the apex of the bevel to the edge of the blade. Using a 10x magnifier I watched the mark as I honed. The mark disappeared from the apex of the bevel toward the edge. I tested the edge with the pad of my thumb as I went and felt it getting sharper, but as the last sliver of marker disappeared from the edge it felt noticeably duller. I've managed to repeat this sequence on the previously sharp Shumate and it has now become unusable.

I have been reading constantly since I started all this in early March. The hones are nearly straight edge flat. I am using a very light touch and taking hours to get the bevel flat. I am really aware of keeping the razor flat on the hone. The bevel seems very even from heel to toe. The bevel seems very flat - it uniformly reflects light, but I am mystified about the behavior of the ink on the bevel. It is acting as if it is convex. It behaves identically when I start over which baffle me even more, since I would expect starting with a flat bevel, the ink should disappear evenly the entire width of the bevel. I always alternate sides using an X pattern and, again, am using a very light touch. When I strop I hold the leather very rigid and use a light touch on the razor. I have sharpened knives and know about wire edges. I have both felt for a wire edge and looked for one with the 10X lens and see no evidence of that defect so even though I am honing a lot, I don't think I am "over honing".

Obviously, I am do some thing(s) wrong. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Sorry it is so long, but I wanted to give you gurus enough info to avoid rat holes.

Thanks