Hello all,

I'm a new straight razor user. I have a Dovo 5/8 horn. Bought it in Belgium and it stated shave ready, i found it got rather dull after some beginner shaves and wrong stropping, so i bought a coticule and tried the dilucot method as shown on the coticule homepage.

I honed and honed and hond, and managed to get a halfway decent shave at some point, however I know that there's still much improvement that can be made, I just don't know how.

For example, I never ever passed the HHT, not after bevel setting, not after polishing, nor stropping, it won't cut a hanging hair, not even catch it or split it.

It might be that I hone the wrong way, for example it often arrives that after diluting the slurry, the razor passing over the stone makes a shrill noise (like scratching over a chalkboard and I don't think that's normal, or is it?

I also keep having trouble to keep the blade flat on the hone, any suggestions on how to keep it flat at all times?

I'd really like to pass that darned HHT, and I won't quit till i get it, but it would be nice to see some improvement (at least catch the hair).

Do you guys always pass the HHT when honing dilucot on a coticule?

Thanks in advance!