Oh man, so I took that knife I sharpened on this coti, gave it a few swipes on my home-made Cro-Ox balsa strop... I can shave with it (not terribly comfortable but possible!). Also took my practice fixer upper razor with a bevel from a 1k to it for about 15 mins, can shave too! (given a little pull, but a big improvement from where it started!) I LOVE this little thing! Now I want one just for kitchen cutlery too... oh my... this is how people get HAD isn't it?