Gentlemen,
Last year I bought a Guillermo Hoppe 6/8, NOS, and have yet to put a proper edge on it. Guillermo Hoppe is a vintage German razor — I have seen it under different first names, too. My first Guillermo Hoppe took a beautiful edge. This one has been a bear.
My first attempt at honing failed miserably. The think it just would not take an edge, no matter what I did. No tape, one to four layers of tape — and still nothing. I sent it to a friend, a great honemeister, and he could not put an edge on it either. Steel problems? Grinding? Geometry? He was not sure.
After giving up on it, I tried selling it "as is" and stated all its problems, but there were no takers, even at the paltry price I offered. Since them I have honed it repeatedly, sometimes varying my sequence. I routinely use Chosera 1K, depending on need, and after that Naniwa 4, 8 and 12K, and Suehiro Kolumyo 20K. Sometimes I change to a pair of sweet Japanese natural finishers.
The edge seems to be improving — somewhat. At least it gives a shave, although not exactly stellar. I figure with a few more honing sessions I might put an acceptable edge on the blasted razor. Someday it may turn out to be as sweet as my first Guillermo Hoppe, I suppose if I remove enough bad steel (so to speak) to get to the good part. You never know. It never hurts to keep trying, especially since the blasted blade was expensive.
Gentlemen, have you ever wrestled with a bear like my Guillermo Hoppe?
