Thread: Trouble with Razor

Hello all.

I have a Ern No. 4 I picked up at an antique mall last year. I sent it out to have it rescaled and the edge cleaned up. When I got it back, the first few shaves with it were great, exactly what I would expect from a restored edge. It's a full hollow, 5/8" blade.

But over the past year, I haven't been able to maintain the edge at that level, and I'm actually not sure why. It feels like it pulls more often than not, and it goes to the paddle and the honing stone more often than my other blade, even though I use them equally (I alternate each shave).

Just today, I took it to my Naniwah 12k superstone and gave it 15 strokes each side. Then I took it to my Balsa paddle, and 10 strokes on each side of the blade on each side of the paddle, with Dovo Red and Black paste. Then 10 strokes on canvas, and finally 50 strokes on leather. It felt more like using fine sand paper than anything else.

Now, I'd chalk this up to either the routine or to my technique, but whenever I do the same routine on my Dovo En Vouge No. 105, I have to be extra cautious the first couple of shaves because I won't even realize it's cut me until about 3 seconds after it has.

The Dovo is likewise a 5/8" full hollow blade, which is why, when selecting blades at the antique store, I chose the Ern, I figured there'd be nothing to relearn about how to shave with it. The only difference between them is that the Dovo is a straight blade, while the Ern has a slight curve to it.

Is there something about my routine that doesn't work with the new blade? Is there special technique needed for a curved blade over a straight blade? Could it be that my technique for actually shaving needs to be different between the two blades? I've had the Ern for about a year, and the Dovo for nearly 2, and I have always tried to be receptive to what the blades are telling me, but I haven't been able to get an easy shave out of the Ern for quite some time.

Is it possible it hates me?

Any advice would be much appreciated. I have included pics of the Ern, hopefully they help.

Thanks all!