Well, after 6 steady months of shaving with my Dovo 5/8 carbon steel I have final figured out how to get a good shave. Thank you all for your help along the way!

Alas, I am still having trouble. I am a head shaver and the problem I am having is that my blade is going dull half way through the first pass.

I am lucky enough to have a friend who has taught me the basics of honing, so what I find myself having to do is shave half of my head then hone. Stropping is not working out as well as 20 passes on my 8K hone.

So, how do I keep my blade sharp without all of the time consuming stopping and stropping? I was thinking about getting a stainless steel blade. Good idea, bad idea?

V/R

RK