Dear Diary:

Day 1 with a finished and honed jstr8. I took it for a ride this morning with valobra and it performed beautifully. Nary a nick. Smoother than my other razors and much more complicated to use. On the flip side honing the blade gave me an insight into how the razor should be used. I really enjoyed the exercise this morning and I hope that it will continue to get easier. I finished and polished the razor on newspaper with 80 laps on leather. Note: When honing, stroping, or finishing on newspaper use short strokes no more than 2" and upto 4" on leather. Canvas doesn't do much and the newspaper must be used as a hone not a strop.

Back to the show:

For those of you that have been interested in Jstr8s and not sure what we are referring to when we say complicated try this exercise. Take a standard No.2 pencil. Place it eraser (rubber) side in your hand so that the eraser (rubber) is just above, that is toward your hand, the first knuckle on your thumb. Mark the end of your thumb on the pencil. Cut off that portion and discard. From one end of the rest of the pencil measure back about 1-1/2". Draw a line with a black marker all he way around the pencil. Mark one side sharp.

Go into the bathroom and try to "shave" keeping the "sharp" side to your face.

I know that this does not take into account that the blade is flat etc. but if you want to take the time then use a popsicle stick I do not think there will be much to discard there.