So I had some spare time yesterday and decided I would sit down and get some time in on the hones while bringing two of my razors into great shaving shape. Recently they had both been playing tug of war with my face, and were in need of a sharpening. The two blades were a 6/8ths Brucke solingen "Thiers Issard starter", and a 5/8ths Wapencia. For both blades I honed as followed:

Pyramid on norton 4000/8000:
  • 25/25
  • 20/20
  • 15/15
  • 10/10
  • 5/5
  • 1/5
  • 1/5


Followed by:
  • 30 Strokes on a Naniwa 12000
  • 20 Strokes on paddle strop with Thiers Issard strop paste
  • 10 Strokes on a Naniwa 12000
  • 5 Strokes on paddle strop with Thiers Issard strop paste
  • 30 Strokes on a leather hanging strop


I gave both razors a test this morning while shaving. I find that the Wapencia Stainless blade still wants to pull a little, while the Brucke carbon blade is working like a dream. (Some SRD Lime soap and the Brucke gave me an amazing shave this morning!) Has anyone else noticed that different types of blades be it metal or size/shape behave differently on the hones? I will need to sit down this afternoon and see if I can get a process that works for the Wapi.