cant get this thing sharp Thiers-Issard France "Le Petite Francaise" 4/8"

Hello all:
I have been shaving with a straight and getting a pretty good shave with a dovo 6/5 and 5/8 best quality and perlex, I am stropping with a plain leather and a pasted red dovo paste, however, I can't get this the Thiers-Issard France "Le Petite Francaise" 4/8" to cut well at all. This is a new razor I have used a 4/8 thousand norton and 16k natural stone. I have read you need a diamond paste, or they like diamond paste. What do you recommend. Would love any advice I can get.

Thanks

Cromagnum

It is hard to say where in the progression the problem is without knowing some more details. Generally speaking, many times the problem is in the lower grits - if it is not shaving well, the higher grit hones won't do the trick, and pasting may mask poor honing, giving you one or two acceptable to good shaves, but the edge soon deteriorates.

The steel TI uses is harder than the new Dovos you mentioned, and I would not be surprised if the bevel is not yet complete. Also, make sure that the blade is not warped and that the edge is contacting the blade evenly. These are very basic things that, sadly, one cannot assume with TI's QC.

what ray said.

It is not so much what you use, but how you use it. it sounds like you're fairly new to honing. did you hone your dovo razors yourself too?
if you did getting good results on them can mean (a) the steel is easier to hone (b) the blades are straighter (c) they were closer to where they should be
or combination of all these.
I have read posts by many fairly experienced guys that some TI razors have been trickier for them to get right.

About a year ago when I was first investigating straights, I'm sure I read somewhere on this forum that T.I.s could be pretty hard to setup, but then required less maintanence than a Dovo. A lot of the feedback on the new steel is that its noticeably harder than the previous recipe as well, so that's probably going to compound your problem. Looks like you've got your work cut out for you.

Thanks for the quick answers. I had to hone the 6/8 dovo but needed minimal work the perlex dovo was good out of the box. I have purchased several ebay razors which took no time to hone up to a great shave. I think they have all been hcs, the ti may be stainless not sure I can tell the difference just by looking at it. I can get the ti to cut a hanging hair if the hair is stiff a flimsy one just bends out of the way, but the shave just does not feel right and takes many passes. I may just send it off to ruprazor. He has done a good job for me in the past. I don't mind spending the money so much as the disappointment that i could not do it myself

Cromagnum

TI's can be a bugger to hone, even recognized honemeisters have problems in my experience. I eventually overhoned my TI. Because TI use very hard steel it is prone to microchipping.

The way I check whether a blade is overhoned is very controversial on straight shaving forums but this is what I do: I strop it 5 round trips with the spine lifted a few millimeter off the leather applying no pressure at all but the weight of the razor. If that improves the cutting performance of your blade considerably it is overhoned. If you do not do more than 5 round trips and if you do not exert any pressure you will not create a 2nd bevel.

If you get the blade sharper doing the above don't take it to a very fina hone again or you'll risk overhoning it again. Just start using the razor!