The difference sharpness makes

I found it funny. I broke out the straight razor I bought about 10 years ago again. I honed it on an Arkansas stone. I had no nicks in the first shave and thought I must have remembered how to do it well. Well maybe not, after receiving pastes and bench honing the razor with 6,3,1,.5, and .25 micron paste I found a very close shave but several nicks. Nothing serious but my face is stinging a little from the styptic pencil. :) It is back to learning the basics again now that my blade is shave ready again.

At the risk of opening a can of worms ...... sometimes sharpness can be too much of a good thing IME. That green stuff, the chrom-ox can take a harsh edge and smooth it out a bit.

I know what you mean. My Dovo is the sharpest razor I own, but it also tends to give the most nicks. My Wade and Butcher is the perfect medium- it's sharp, but results in a close shave with less likelihood of nicks.

And this is why, as Jimmy taught me, barbers really enjoyed using coticules to hone their razors. They really give a great shave and give you a 'i can't do any harm with this' type feeling while shaving.

I did find where my mistake was. The second time, I got it even worse. Essentially, I tried to do what I did with a cartidge razor. Too many long sweeping strokes. When I read some advice and started doing what my barber does when he shaves my side burns, it worked much better. I found short strokes really helped. When a razor is properly sharp it is just too easy to get the wrong angle somewhere if you try to make big sweeping strokes. Besides the short strokes are really cool with my Theirs Issard signing blade.

I've found the same as you, I CAN make those long sweeping strokes but really prefer the shorter ones!

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Originally Posted by brooksie967

I've found the same as you, I CAN make those long sweeping strokes but really prefer the shorter ones!

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I can make the long sweeping strokes as well, but shorter strokes tend to leave a closer cut, IME.