Just got a new (not NOS) Dovo 5/8 with a stainless steel blade. All my other razors are carbon steel with or without addition of silver. This Dovo arrived new in box, and I perhaps foolishly assumed that a few laps on linen and then leather hanging strop would be all the prep this pristine blade needed to be ready for shaving. But it was duller than dull, nowhere ready to pass HHT.

I then took it to a Thiers-Issard paddle strop, on which the felt side had been dabbed with the TI Razor Sharpening Paste (don't know the micron count - it's the "grease stick" that comes in a tube, made with diamond and aluminum oxide) and did several X-pattern passes. I saw almost no improvement at all.

Does a stainless blade require different treatment? I've been resistant to do any honing beyond the pasted paddle since it's pristine. What would you suggest should be my next steps?

Thanks!