Yesterday I first noted a roughness in my Dovo I had bought from Tony Miller. I had bought from him so I could be sure what a well sharpened blade would shave like. I had kept it well stropped, but after about 4 months I could feel a difference. I went straight to my 6k Japanese Water stone , worked up a slurry with my stone and did about 20 laps with a very light prassure and the classic x movement. Then about 20 laps on leather with rouge, and finally 20 with plain leather. What a pleasant relief. My shave today was as great as the day it arrived!
Sometimes this topic can be a little intimidating to us newbies, I have been straight shaving about 6 months now, and talk of pyramids, 200x microscopes, relative merits of various hones etc are both very interesting and educational, but I wonder if they can intimidate the inexperienced.( They had me worried ) As with many things in life, I think there are many ways to get to your goal, and I wanted to post this in case people were hesitant to at least try to hone their own blades. I think the knowledge shared here is fantastic, and I used a lot of it, but at some time you have to just do it yourself and see what happens. I am sure I will get even better with time, but I achieved a great shave today, so other newbies, take heart, pick one method where you have the tools and just give it a try!Thanks to everyone who has shared all their knowledge, its great.
Jim