First time honing was a success or sorts
Living near Dallas, I have a Woodcraft store near by, and I decided to drop by to pick up some honing gear earlier today. Not having a ton of extra cash at the moment, all I purchased was a Norton 4k/8k combo stone and a DMT 325 for lapping and raising slurry. After getting home and getting the stone lapped, I proceeded to try to refresh a dulled razor that I recently purchased. Everything went swimmingly, and after finishing up on the 8k side, the razor would easily pop arm hair well above the skin. So I finished up on a pasted balsa plank, 10 laps on the CrO side and 10 laps on the FeO, and then about 75 laps on leather. The results: HOLY COW! Talk about a close shave. However, the blade is a little fierce. I liken the feeling my face has right now to the first time I used a Feather blade in my safety razor; not burnt, but definitely a little raw. If I wanted to tame the edge a little without killing it could I use cork like the DE guys do sometimes? Despite the final result, I'm quite surprised I got a blade that sharp my first time out.