I know this must be the most newbie question ever posted. I just received a new Dovo from my girlfriend for Valentine's Day. I'm a greenhorn to say the least. I don't have a hone yet but stropped it. The first two shaves were a little "stuttery". The third was rather smooth. The fourth was "stuttery" and the fifth left a good cut on my jawline where I tried to push through whiskers and it caught and then jumped. This was an obvious sign that the blade is not as sharp as it should be.

To get to my question: what side does one strop the razor. My strop has a smooth "finished" side that is shiny and the other side is not finished and sort of suede like. Do I have a low-quality strop? It is named: "something German and Sons" with a large Coat of Arms of sorts with large eagle wings.

I'm afraid I'm stropping on the wrong side or my technique of course could be the culprit.

And I have a Norton 4k/8k coming in the mail next week to start learning honing techniques.

To end I'd like to thank those that manage this forum and those that contribute so un-selfishly for the newbies like me.