Last year, my wife, knowing how much I missed the thrill of shaving with a straight razor since my college years, gave me a Thiers-Issard stainless steel straight razor from the Art of Shaving (AOS) as a gift.

After several (painful) shaves, I sent it back to (AOS) to get it "professionally" honed.

Long story short...it didn't work, shaving still hurt and was never BBS. Now I realize that one side of the spine is convexed (curved out) slightly, so when you hone (or strop) the heel and toe on that one side never gets the full stoke of the hone (or strop).

Is there a fix, is this normal, am I doing something wrong, or should I just get a new blade.

Thanks!