Thread: Is it my honing or my Wapi?

I've been working for a few weeks with a Wapi to try to improve my honing skills. I've had it in passable shaving condition for several weeks and I've been playing around with different finishing hones (thuringen, coticule and Chinese 12K) to see what I like best. The shave before last, after some strokes on a coticule and plain leather stropping, I got beautiful shaves on both cheeks and a decent shave around my mouth and chin (which I do last). This morning, I got a decent shave on my first cheek, a mediocre shave on my second cheek, and a poor shave around my mouth and chin.

I'm surprised the edge seems to deteriorate so much from the first to the second shave and during each shave, particularly since I didn't use pastes to refine the edge. What do you gents think: do Wapi edges degrade this quickly, or is my honing somehow deficient?

I'm getting similar results with my Wapi but iv'e started to use the linen side of the strop fist & this does seem to be helping. Iv'e just ordered an ultrafine spyderco hone to see if this will help.
Joel at badger& blade has just given the spyderco ceramic hone a massive thumbs up .Got the fine &medium already so we will see.Paul
Ive just had my daily shave with the Wapi.Iused fine Spyderco pocket hone to touch up edge & now it passes the HHT easily .It seems that the wapi prefersatouch on the hone & strop on plain leathr.Iv'e just started to try & get my razors shave ready with hones & plain leather strop.
Before i used spyderco fine I was trying to put a fine polished edge on it .Not with alot of success.Paul

I received a Wapi about 3 weeks ago now I wrote about my first impressions in this thread "Ramblin' Thoughts on my new Wapienica"
I noticed a lot of hone wear on the first sharpening as compared to other new razors.... My thought was that if these Wapis really are "surgical" razors maybe they were not designed for a lifetime of use like other razors are. Now I have used mine three times now and the shaves were all excellent but I have never tried shaving with any razor without my morning ritual of 20 laps on linen then 25 on leather. Maybe some other Wapi owners will chime in with more results over a longer period of time...

I think that was in your razor a wire edge that has been removed during shaving!

That occurred to me, but I thought a wire edge was unlikely since it shaved my first two cheeks so comfortably.

I have honed and shaved with many of these razors and have not found the edge to deteriorate any more rapidly than with other razors.