Thread: A couple of questions on sharpness

Well, this morning's shave was much more like what I expected from a straight razor. The blade didn't stop for anything and I got a great shave. I just need to figure out how to get against the grain on the underside of the chin and it will be perfect, but I guess that will take time. Thanks again for all the good advice here. I'm pretty confident now about getting the stone out when necessary. In a week or so I'll get to compare it to a professional hone - I ordered a new King Cutter that will be honed before shipping. Again, thanks - this board is a great resource.

Martin.

Thought I'd post a 'lessons learned' to close this off. After my last post I had one more session with the Dovo on the 8000, nothing heavy, just another 20 or 30 gentle laps. It just seemed to hit a sweet spot after that. Then I received my professionally honed King Cutter. It was very sharp, but by that time my Dovo is equally sharp and actually a bit smoother. So, the lessons learned are:
- getting a professionally honed straight is a great idea, to set a benchmark for your own efforts
- with the great info and support available on the site, I would say don't fear doing your own honing as well
- the advice to get a loupe was great as well - watching the coarse scratches get smoother confirmed I needed to keep going on the 8000

I'm now enjoying great SR shaves, alternating the two razors (when I'm not rushing off to work) and now have the confidence to keep both blades in top shape.

Thanks again for all the good pointers.