This is one of those bad news good news sort of stories. I think I put too many cycles on a .5 micron diamond abrasive and dulled my blade. Up until today I've been using a hanging strop successfully. Today I tried out the paddle strop for the first time with diamond.

I've also finally figured out a great diagnostic to tell when the blade is not sharp enough during a shave test. I have some small flat whiskers on my chin. If I can't remove them WTG, the blade is too dull. Which lead to something else I've never done -- abort a shave. The blade was not shaving well. The little flat whiskers were going no where. I tried the hanging strop and chrome oxide, followed by linen, and finally leather but no luck. So this was going to be more than a pasted strop refresh. Ok

So for the first time I broke out the 4000 grit whet hone on my new razor. I went 4000, 8000, and then 12,000. I followed that up with chrome oxide on linen, linen, and leather. It was time for the shave test.

The shave test results were amazing. That answered the question. I dulled the blade with the diamond abrasive. I'll have to be more careful with the diamond abrasive cycle count. After the re-honing, and stropping with the system I'm used to the blade was very keen.

So I have some learning to do with the new abrasive and new paddle strop, but the stones and vertical strop worked like a champ. I've been practicing honing on an inexpensive razor and getting good results. So I took a deep breath and tried out the new razor. Success!