Not quite sharp enough I think!

Hello everyone!

I'm a newbie. I just bought a Thiers Issard 5/8" Singing Straight Razor. I am having a lot of trouble getting it sharp, I have a Norton dual 4000 and 8000 grit stone. Ive also tried a yellow Coticule 8000 grit stone from Belgium. I've watched countless videos, I am realizing that this might be something you can't learn on youtube? Is that possible???

As for the strop, I am using a very narrow Jemico pasted strop. One of the sides is leather, and the other is some weird type of soap stone or something.

I can get the blade sharp enough to shave, but it isn't very enjoyable.

I'm looking for guidance on what my next step forward should be.

Thanks in advance!

Greg

Are you stropping on plain leather at anytime?

Yes I am. Ive read about pastes but am not sure if this is a requirement for this type of strop.

Have you tried honing in the coti with electric tape on the spine and just water? Super light x-strokes.

Don't expect too much too soon. It took me a month of honing practice before I was able to produce a shave ready blade, and I worked on it for hours a day for a month. I watched the You Tube videos, read everything I could, but in the end it was hours of practice that made the difference. My recommendation would be to send that blade to someone to hone it for you and get a cheap flea market razor to practice your honing skills on. That's what I did, and it worked. I didn't touch a good razor until I was sure I was ready and up to the task.

I know what you mean about watching video's...I watched them all and had sub-par sharpening sessions. I've been wet shaving for 4 years...it took me over a year to just get a shavable edge, and even now I get better and better each time I try. The video's are great but nothing is better than practice. You literally have to hit the stones a 100 times before something just...clicks...and you understand the feedback.

I'm a slow learner, most here can pick it up quicker - it's the practice and experience that'll get you where you need to be. I found rushing it lead to the most frustration.

Enjoy the journey!

When I first started honing, the 8000 was the highest grit stone I had and the edge would shave but not as comfortably as it was when I received my razor. Then I restored a few and went all the way from bevel setting to finishing on the 8000 and shaves were still good but still not as good as my new razor when it first arrived. After I restored a few razors and kept honing and trying different things, I was getting better. I added some 0.5 micron diamond spray on denim and it took the edge to the next level. Then after I got a 12K hone it was even better (just like my first shave ready razor out of the box). I think practice is important in learning to hone, I am by no means a master, and am still learning as I go. But it was just a matter of practice and experimenting with different techniques for me to learn. The biggest thing for me, was when they say "no pressure" on the 8000+ stones, they really mean no pressure at all. I would do light pressure in the beginning and was wondering why I couldn't get a quality shave.

Just stick with it and your edges will slowly improve! Good luck!