I agree with Hirlau and RezDog. You are going to have to either hone the razor yourself or get a professional to do it. However, a cheaply made razor will never take as good and edge, hold the edge, or feel smooth to shave with. When you get a really sharp razor you use almost no pressure and your razor will not pull you face. I sent an 7/8" Otto Busch "Worldmaster" to Maggard Razors for a rescale, polish and hone. Now, it is cuts through stubble like a knife through hot butter. No pull at all, I would describe it like putting a drop or two of olive oil on your finger and running it on a wet granite counter top.

Even if you want to hone you own razors (as I do), send one to a reputable professional so you get a good baseline to go by. Even factory Dovo's, Boker's, etc. are not as sharp as a pro gets them. I can get a razor plenty good for shaving, but a true master honor takes it to a different level. Have a blessed day.

Quote Originally Posted by Inked666 View Post
Hi guys

As some of you know I'm new to straight razors and Im having a few problems getting my razor sharp enough to shave with.


When I bought my razor it was already very sharp but not quite sharp enough to shave the hair on my arm ( no funny jokes i was only shaving my arm to test the razor...lol), so I gave it a good stropping (why does that always sound dirty) and it was a lot better but it still wasn't quite there, so I bought some DOVO red paste and stropped with that first and then on a plain stop and it now cleanly shaves the hairs on my arm but it pulls like mad if I try shave my face with it.


The strop I have is in two pieces, one piece is smooth leather on the outside (the side I've been doing my normal strop on) and raw leather on the other side, and the other piece is a sort of faux leather (i think) on the outside and a sort of thin fleece material on the other side (the side I've been applying the paste).

I'm thinking of buying one of those cheap woven canvas strops to see if it makes any difference with the paste.


Is there anything else I can do to get it razor sharp?