Quote Originally Posted by jkatzman View Post
Love the razor, have 2 stainless satin but hate the feather blades. Takes a shave or 2 to smooth out the edge. First shave can be harsh. I have tried Feather and Kai blades but find I can only get 4-5 shaves per blade. I found stropping the blade on a leather strop works well before the first shave in making it less harsh.
I don't notice the first blade being harsh every time. Some are, some are not. Luck of the draw. As you note, the second/third shave is smoothed out. I'm just more careful with the first.

You may have seen threads in the past, referring to the Feather DE blades, where guys who felt they were harsh for the first shave would gently pull them through a cork. They refer to it as 'corking'. I've never tried it, but some guys swear by it.