Question from new straight shaver honing a "new" Wapi
Hello all,
I am a new straight shaver who recently purchased a Wapienica straight razor from ********. I shaved a couple of times with it, and it was fairly sharp, as I eventually got a decent shave, but it pulled a lot and seemed to take a lot of strokes to remove hair. It also pulled especially around the chin/neck area. It seemed I had to put my own pressure on the blade, which I know is not good to do.
I then noticed that the bevel didn't seem to be even across the blade, and was a great deal larger towards the center of the blade and smaller near the edges.
I thought that I would take a stab at honing it myself, and purchased a Norton 1000/4000 grit waterstone. I did 20 strokes across across the 4000 grit, but it doesn't seem to shave any better. In fact, it seems to be pulling more to me at this point. After I honed it, I stropped it about 25 times, first on the linen side, then on the leather side.
My question is, was I right that the razor needed to be honed in the first place, or would stropping some more eliminated the pulling?
Also, is it necessary that the bevel be even all across, and would the 4000 grit be best for achieving this? Or should I be using the 1000 grit side to set an even bevel and then move to the 4000 grit?
Lastly, is it absolutely necessary that I hone on an 8000 grit once I've finished with the 4000 (I currently don't own an 8K), or can I just strop on the linen side and call it a day?
Any help would be truly appreciated!