Wow! That's what its supposed to feel like.

New to SR after getting interested in sharpening knives. On impulse went to New York Shaving Company and got a SR shave. Felt good enough about it that I picked up their starter kit, Dovo SS 5/8, shaving kit and strop. Followed the threads, Youtube, etc and picked up what information I could. Was the new razor shave ready? Didn't feel like it but figured it was poor techinque. Got a bad case of RAD and bought a couple off that auction site at a low enough price that if I picked up 2 or 3 everyday razors out of the 5 I would still be ahead of the game. I think I got real lucky and picked up 4 good ones out of the 5. A Berg Garanty 6/8 (The Shark), a Carbo Magnetic 60 by Griffon, a John Pritzlaff "Cactus" and a Lee. Mfg "Magnetic Steel". Sent the group off to a honemeister (Thanks, Lynn for duty above and beyond) and started to practice honing on the other, a no-name 4/8.

Got something of an edge on the no-name but still not up to snuff. Just saw GSsixgun's video about teaching Speedster how to hone and will probably have another go at it.

I was making a uberlather with a wally world soap, some glycern and a dab of shaving cream in the cup. I've also been fooling around with soaps and made some glycerin based melt and pour with bentonite and some EO.

The Shark and the Cactus came back from honing and now I could really have an edge to compare to. I didn't want to change to many variables all at once so I used my regular preshave routine with the just returned Shark. The Shark was much better than the new Dovo. But my next shave I used the Cactus and the melt and pour. A lot less tugging, vast improvement in the glide and a much better shave. Certainly some of it was improvement to my technique after 2 months but the change to sharp razors and the melt and pour was impressive.

Used the Shark today with the melt and pour and found the same results. Even the chin and neck areas cut smoother.

Working on building a paddle strop station in the bathroom with the oak paddles mounted on swivel hinges attached to the wall. One paddle will be cowhide with linen on the reverse, the next will be .25 micron diamond spray on felt, a .5 micron felt on the reverse and the third will be a cro-ox paste on as yet undetermined surface, balsa, linen. The reverse of the last one will be blank.

I'm real pleased with the last 2 shaves I've gotten and feel that I'm on the right track. I guess the answer is practice, small changes and a williness to experiment. YMMV

Ummm. Yeah. You might have a problem here. You've put this much R&D into straight-shaving in the first month? Join the club! I've only been at it since september and, even with limited funds, amassed quite an array of soaps,creams,aftershaves,safety razors, and straights! Crap, I've even been able to locate 'collectible' items and w/ minimal effort been able to make $100 on each item several times over to fund my disfunction. From what I've read, you're already ahead of the curve and have set a pace to personally be able to support SRD by yourself:)! Enjoy your new found addiction and keep us posted!