Hello all,

I purchased a Thiers-Issard Carbonsong Steel Razor along with a Dovo strop from the Art of Shaving back in September '12. I believe the razor was shave-ready, as it was horrifyingly sharp the very first time I managed to never maim myself by taking my time and only sustained a few minor nicks and cuts through the months. I think I have the shaving aspect down now.

I made sure to strop before every shave (no paste though). Sadly, recently the time has come upon me where I could feel the razor was beginning to pull instead of slicing the whiskers cleanly. I decided to attempt to hone the razor, and purchased the Norton 220/1000 4K/8K Waterstone kit. I then watched Lynn's Circle Honing Method video on YouTube about four times over, wrote down the steps on a notecard, and set to work.

I am fairly certain I have made the razor more dull, as it more so combs my arm hairs rather than cuts them. I am admittedly 100% new to honing and virtually clueless of how to go about starting. I am not all too familiar with bevels and heel/toe evenness etc. I have done some online research but it's not quite the same as being able to translate it directly to the hones. I think I am going to send the razor to Lynn to have it honed, as there are no honemeisters near me, but I may try again in the interim period of me waiting to hear back from him, and ultimately I would like to be able to produce a shave-ready razor; else I be dependent on others for what has become one of my favorite past-times for the rest of my life.

A few specific questions I have are:
  • Does it matter if I use strop paste or not, if I strop before every shave? I make sure to regularly rub the strop with my palms to get the oils from my hands on it.
  • How the hell do you set a bevel? Is there a picture of what a bevel should look like? Do I need a magnifying glass? I plan to take note of how it looks if/when Lynn sends it back (assuming I send it).
  • I know Lynn has stated you can achieve a shave ready razor off of the 8K, so how much would you all suggest getting a finishing stone? Does it make a huge difference?


Any help, thoughts, questions, comments at all would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!