Hello forum members,

I am very new to straight razor shaving. That said, I picked up a vintage Shapleigh and sent it out for honing and anxiously awaited its arrival. When it came back I was impressed with how sharp it seemed to be.

The first time I used it was with a feeling of trepidation and concern about my well being. Being an older gent with ageing eyes I carefully and slowly attempted to shave one side of my face. The result was no nicks, no razor burn and a somewhat acceptable shave. I was happy to not feel any pulling sensation at all. This continued for a few shaves. I was not really getting that BBS that I keep reading about and so decided to strop the blade.

At this point my "strop" is only a piece of tanned leather 24"/2.5". In the past, I was practicing with an old razor and accidently nicked the edge of the leather in a couple of spots . After stroping my good razor, I noted that the razor now seemed to drag and pull a bit whilst shaving. I am wondering if I might have damaged the edge by going over the nicks? Is this likely? If I have indeed done this, can I bring the razor back to shave ready with my barbers hone?

Thanks for any an all input.