Hi, I'm a noob, although I have been reading this forum for about 6 months and shaving with a straight razor on and off about as long. Let me just say that I LOVE shaving.

I grew up with crap Gilette razors that used to relentlessly razor-burn me. I hated shaving, and would do it about 1 week a month, so I always looked scruffy. and when I did shave, people always asked me why I hadn't shaved.

Desperate for a change, I looked into using a DE razor, and remembered that I had actually inherited my grandfather's 1940s Gilette DE a long time ago. I used that for a while, and it was really very good, but it seemed like the blade wasn't that well aligned, and I cut myself frequently. Then, I got an open comb Merkur Classic 1904 with merkur blades, and got (and still get) the most superb shave I've ever had. My beard is completely eliminated, my skin completely soft, I never get cuts or nicks, and it's really nice.

I wanted a challenge, and straight razors have always appealed to me. So, I bought a TI singing 5/8 from classicshaving.com. I love this razor as an object, and I even like shaving with it, but it's increasingly becoming clear to me that, even though I have occasionally passed the hanging hair test, this razor has never been shaving sharp for me. First, I had a paddle strop with diamond paste on one side, then I got a small Dovo hanging strop. Eventually, I caved and bought a Norton 4k/8k waterstone, and read everything I could read on the Internet, and tried honing.

What is driving me crazy is that I get inconsistent results. With the honing. If I am absolutely even and perfect every time, I can get it sharp enough to pass the hanging hair test, but only sometimes. Same thing after stropping. Sometimes, I pass the test after honing, but not after stropping. Sometimes I fail after honing and pass after stropping. I'm on the verge of buying another razor to see if some razors are just easier to hone than others, or giving up entirely.

I guess it could be my shaving technique too, maybe I'm doing something wrong. Even when the razor feels sharp, and snaps a hair dragged (but not always just draped) over it, when I put it on my face, it doesn't take off my hair unless I go against the grain, and that never ends well. I can get a complete shave after several passes, but then my face is sore enough that it makes me miss my DE and reminds me of the Gilette days.

I know I could send my razor to Lynn, but I want to feel the accomplishment of shaving with the work of my own hands. Plus, I'd probably just dull the razor with my bad stropping technique anyway and then where would I be? Give a man a fish...

I feel silly because everyone asks the same question ("how do I get my razor shaving sharp?"), but just the same I'm hoping for some help that might suit me specifically.

Thanks in advance...