Thread: 5 Shaves under my belt...Blade dull already?

Geaux,

New Shavers are MUCH harder on edges than someone w/ a year's experience. Both stropping and the shaving stroke itself affect edge longevity. Steep angles in the stroke, straight line strokes instead of scything/guillotine strokes contribute, but the biggy is stropping.

I'm no expert - more like succeeding in spite of a deficit of natural talent by overwhelming amounts of practice. For your linen, it cleans, but also straightens so the leather can sharpen and burnish. To increase the abrasion of your linen/canvas, check the method of the honorable Sixgunner:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...vas-paste.html

Dovo white paste or Glen's method simply add chalk to the surface.

Others have found that more than one stropping cycle can give a real improvement: linen, then leather, then linen, then leather - sorta like a pyramid routine on the strop instead of the hones.

In a month or two, look up the 'advanced strokes' in the wiki, looking for the scything and guillotine strokes. They're easier on the edges also.