Hi Al,

I'm in a similar place to you, although I haven't purchased a stone yet....and, all of my razors were post-purchase honed through Tony or Lynn. But, a few weeks ago, found that my plain linen/leather strop wasn't providing the shaving edge I desired, so I contacted Tony Miller and ordered a bench strop: 12"x3", double tan leather, with a handle (OK, technically that moves it from bench to paddle!, but the handle provides a great way to stabilize the whole apparatus!), and I had him pre-paste with 1.0 diamond & 0.5 chromium oxide. This saved me from purchasing the respective pastes, and he said that they should last 6-12 months; this way I could use the thing right out of the box.

So, how's it work? I love it....with my most-used razor (probably 40 shaves since honing) I did 5 passes 1.0, 5 passes 0.5, then 1/3 and 1/5, then 25 passes on plain leather. Wow, what a difference! Shaves beautifully, and since then do a bit of touch-up (1/3 or 1/5) about every 5-7 shaves.

Good luck, and happy shaving!

Bob