Hi everybody,

Last evening, I decided to try honing. I was a little anxious about it and was trying to postpone it a bit until more comfortable with the stropping (one new thing to learn at a time). So, as my stropping is now quite good, I went in for honing.

First I lapped my Norton 4/8 and my coticule with a DMT 325. Following advices found on SRP. That was a piece of cake.

Then, I took a razor I bought on ebay (a Royal Crown), cleaned it with Maass (the razor was altogether in a good shape, besides little dark spots - maybe watermarks). The blade wasn't sharp at all. So I decided to get on with the hone. Here is the story:

- a conservative pyramid = the razor was not sharp (just to give it a try but without hope that it will do the trick)
- an aggressive pyramid = the razor was still not sharp, at all
- 15 / 15 = still not sharp but I can feel that something is happening to the edge
- 15 / 15 = not really improving; the razor is still not capable of cutting hair out of my knee
- 75 on the 8K only = oh... I can feel with my thumb that I am getting somewhere (test every 15 strokes)
- 75 on the coticule = ok, this feels sharp, but isn't passing the hanging hair test.

So I shaved this morning with it (ultimate test, isn't it?): it cut my hair without pulling, but was still not sharp enough (with two WTG passes I could still feel my whiskers... which is not happening with my professionally honed razors). So I guess I have to keep up with the work.

So, here are my questions:

1) Is it normal that I have to hone that much a razor - even an ebay one - or did I do something wrong? I really try to follow Josh's advices (the angle of the arm, no pressure, ...)

2) To keep up the good work, is it better to go with a conservative pyramid, to get back only to the 8k (and check every 10 strokes) or to continue with the coticule (checking every 10 strokes)?

3) If I didn't make any mistakes, I think I will buy a more coarser hone to set the initial bevel faster... Is it better to get a Shapton 1000 and a 2000, or will only a DMT 1200 be enough?

Thanks a lot