Today was my first SR shave. I have a Dovo 5/8 (carbon steel, roundtip), a strop and a Norton 4k/8k from ClassicShaving. I also picked up Lynn's video, the John West video and watched both several times before trying anything. With regards to honing, I've been reading here that "less is more" so I stropped lightly 30 times and here's how it went:
* - After full prep (hot towels, etc.) I did a N-S pass on my cheeks. I feel like I may have well used my Buck hunting knife. Clearly not shave ready.
* - Hit the Norton for a pyramid of 3/3/1/3/1/5 (as Lynn recommended in his video), stropped 20 more times.
* - Results were a little better but still aweful.
* - did another Norton pyramid, then stropped and made my final attempt of the day. Better, but still unusable.
* My observations are: (i) I didn't get any cuts/nicks so even with a dull (probably dangerous) blade it was a little more forgiving that I anticipated; (ii) keeping the skin tight seems absolutely critical; (iii) I'm a long way away from feeling comfortable attacking my chin and throat with the blade.
As I don't want to overhone right out of the gates, I'm looking for suggestions. The razor feels OK with the thumbnail test (but I've never done this test before), but is nowhere near the hangin hair test.
As an aside, I want to thank all of the folks on this site who (even though they don't know it) got me to try this skill/art. I'm committed to learning it and know it will take time and patience.