I've been using a shavette for a couple weeks now and that's actually going OK but meanwhile I bought a razor off ebay which purports to be "shave ready", having been through a multi-stage honing process, stropping, etc..
The thing is when I shave with it (and I do strop it before shaving with it and make sure it can cut through a standing hair on my arm) it's not quite holding up. For the first few strokes it's ver nice indded. Close, comfortable, feels easy... but about halfway through the shave things change and it starts to pull and leave less than desirable results.
I suspect that it may not have been sharpened properly but I also wonder if it may be that the blade is just not especially good quality metal and may not ever hold an edge well. If that's the case I'd probably stick it in the drawer for now and replace the blade later because the scales and felt lined leather case it came with are very nice in my opinion.
Anoyone ever heard of this brand, or have any tips for how to tell whether I'm dealing with a sharpening problem or a metal quality problem (short of sending it in for sharpening, which seems a sensible course but wondering if I can tell without waiting two weeks for it to come back).
The blade says "King Otto" on one side and on the other side is says:
Otto Steinen Supply Co.
Los Angeles, CAL.
Made in Germany
I'm not in a place where I can post a pic right now but I think the pic is still up on ebay:
King otto 4/8 shave ready straight razor Faux Tortoise - eBay (item 130335799323 end time Oct-14-09 13:07:59 PDT)
Appreciate any tips or advice.
Thanks,
Charlie