Folks, I'm in a slump.
Not with straight edges/modern razors. But I am definitely getting nowhere, or somewhere weird with too much effort, with some of my oldies.

In such cases such as this, I often think it's time to step back and check my assumptions, share them with enlightened minds and see what falls through the sieve.

Now, what I expect, in best case scenarios, is a thin regular bevel, that "bites" at 1k/2k, shaves my very thin arm hairs after BBW, and then it's finishing time.
So far, most of the time, my routine works beautifully with only a few laps at low grits, 50 laps on BBW and then we're at a point where the more the merrier, with little risk to damage the blade.
Even hard steels, such as Swedish steel, don't take that much in low grits.

I won't buy a razor with a flat on the back, and it is my assumption that in such cases, the original geometry should be correct from "factory setting" and the bevel should be thin without the addition of any tape.
Which is why I only put one layer, just to protect the back.

But I've been struggling with a few oldies, as I said.
For example, I have been working on a Lund yesterday, and immedialty the bevel came quite large. Like 1/10" 2/3mm large.
And I struggled, really struggled, to make it bite.
There was this thin thread of light at the top of the bevel on some parts, that I, once again assume being the bevel not thin enough, that I had a hard time getting rid of.

Weirdly enough for oldies, there did not seem to be any kind of original bevel.


And I see no indication that the geometry has been tempered with.

In the end, I thought I had reached the "post BBW" stage, but trying to shave after the whole finishing (coti, purple llyn, DGS) told me otherwise.

On another group of razors (6 of them, used to be the property of the same person), I have the feeling they have been "freehand honed", because "flat honing" would not give a consistent edge or bevel, particularly at the center of the blade. In the end, on the one I did achieve to get out, I thing I added 2 layers of tape. The same thing happens on all 6, even though there are 4 wedges and 2 rattlers.

I know some of my friends over here have stopped honing oldies for others because they think they are "a hit and a miss". But with 10 blades on the bench, all of them high quality, that I can't get a good shave of, I think there might be something with my technique.

So have at it, criticize, poke holes in my reasoning. I'm depressed enough as is not to feel the burn too much lol.