Quote Originally Posted by yohimnbe2 View Post
I fell back to SE and DE blades as a compromise to the great MACH 3 razor.

Its the Reference blades that kill me !!! As much as I have tried, my other blades are no where close to the sharpness of my "reference" blades. If only I could keep them that sharp.
Lack of stropping or honing skill doesn't logically raise the Mach3 to the status of a "great razor"
If you don't have the time, coordination or desire to learn to use a straight that's the reality.

If poor stropping was the problem you could have sent the razors out for rehoning & researched/practised stropping. I usually recommend newbs to practice on a makeshift strop made from a single sheet of newspaper. It saves on leather & honing fees. You are correct in saying "shaving with a straight requires stropping and sharpening skills that most don't have" but the skills are not unattainable as many will attest to.

With 4-6 razors in your rotation you should not even need to use stones during your learning period. A rhetorical question but did you seriously expect to hone an edge as well as Lynn does so soon ?