Thread: First shave and don't know what to think

I would not try to polish it on your own as a beginner. Too much room for error and honing takes a long long time to get proficient, even enough for touch ups. As stated your shavette and straight are two totally different animals and while similar require two different sets of technique. The problem with your lather could be the culprit here. All you need to do is keep adding water a couple of drops at a time until it gets wet enough so it won't dry quickly. Be careful not to get it too wet, there is a fine line there. I would strop the hell out of it and give it another shot. If you get a good lather and are still having problems you may want to think about sending it out to get honed. This way you will KNOW it is honed professionally and will know what shave ready is without a shadow of a doubt. It makes for a good point of reference. Many many vendors claim their razors are professionally honed, but I find very few can hone them to the point that I consider shave ready. Even my Hart which is supposed to come honed on an Eisher did not come as sharp as I like it and I had to finish it up myself. Now it shaves like a dream. But I would strongly advise you not to attempt to hone or touch it up yourself. First off you will need the right hones, just any stone will not give you the results you are looking for, second it takes time to develop skills and a lot of trial and error. Third without knowing what shave ready is you have no idea what to look for as a finished product.