Hey guys, I need some advice....

I just got a NOS stainless razor, "presharpened" of course. Opened the box, shaved some arm hair and that went okay. I lathered up and stroppped, and what do you know.... won't shave whiskers worth a damn. Now call this a foolhardy plan (as I know that I could send it off to Lynn and it would come back perfect) but I've been considering honing it myself with my newb honing skills, if you could call it that.

I don't think I rolled the edge. When I received the razor it did shave arm hair. Then, while prepping for a shave, I did a pass on my right cheek before stropping to see what it was like, and it wasn't smooth by any means, and removed very little hair at that point. In fact it had me worried that it already wasn't sharp. THEN I stropped (approx 80 leather, no linen this time), and it was no better. Razor glides over the skin with very minimal hair removal. This is what I'm up against. The weird thing is that, while the razor won't shave whiskers at all, it will still shave arm/leg hair. I confirmed that today. Am I wrong in assuming that if it shaves body hair then a) the bevel should be set, and b) it just was not sharpened enough by the vendor?

My set-up thus far is a yellow coticule and slurry stone. I know from other threads, especially Bart's, that the coticule should be up to the task for this situation. Will a slurry be necessary, or will water alone do the job? What progression should I use?

Thanks in advance for the help, and if I really f this one up Lynn should be hearing from me soon.

Regards,

Ryan