Thread: It finally happened

I just hope that it continues.

I was planning to post earlier to discuss my morning shave experience, but as I was reading I came upon the "Smooth vs. Sharp" discussion and it set my mind to racing.

First things first... I have been reading for many weeks about what to expect from a "Shave Ready" razor with direct reference to the experience of having the razor just glide across skin effortlessly shaving down every errant whisker in it's path. Having experimented with 3 or 4 "shave ready" razors in my short (maybe 100 shave) straight-razor journey, I had not yet experienced this storied brush with shaving bliss.

I hone my own razors using a 4K, 8K, 12K progression depending on what I am trying to work out, whether it be tiny nicks, a burr, or just routinely touching up an edge after an occasional drop into the wash basin.

In the learning process, I have endeavored not to get too aggressive with my shaving razors because I want them to last and I don't want to damage them beyond my own ability to repair. Except for the cheap Kriegar... I hone the hell out of that thing, and don't have a decent edge yet. Yeah, I was told. LOL.

Anyway, I'd been touching up on the 8K and 12K... Oooh... seems like at about 3-week intervals, or whenever I dropped one. Well, the time came again, and last evening I was once again honing my daily shavers, which are 2 Dovo BQ 5/8 FH. I decided to start on the 4K because I had detected a burr on the toe of one of the blades (it was leaving tracks on my strop). It was a simple process. 4K, 8K, 12K, linen strop, leather strop, clean, and shave test.

The shave that I have been getting off of my "shave ready' blades have been good. I was happy with them. They weren't (tremendously) uncomfortable and I wasn't having to resort to a cartridge to close every shave. As I said, I was happy.

So I honed these blades and went to shave this morning on a two-day growth, and OMG...

The razor that I was using just slid across my cheek like a hockey-puck on ice. Smooth. Easy. I had to stop and do the silent "Holy Shit" thing.

I usually do a 2-pass shave, and I'm OK with a bit less than BBS, but this morning I could have stopped with 1-pass and still gotten a shave that was noticeably better than days previous. I did a light 2nd pass and ... viola... I has my Baby Butt (which usually requires the Atra for the 2nd pass.) LOL.

Now to the "Smooth vs. Sharp" discussion... My razors have been sharp for months. Hell... I've been shaving with them. But this morning's shave was smoooooothe...