Thread: How do I know if I am stropping correctly?

Stropping is one of those things that just takes time to learn, without magnification, you will only know if you are doing it wrong and the edge degrades.

Typically new stroppers use too much pressure or lift the spine and break the edge, causing a chip.

As said get some magnification, the Carson Micro Max and a 60x lighted loupe are common inexpensive magnifiers, but any magnifier/loupe/scope will work.

Look straight down on the edge, like the photos below any shiny reflections are where the bevels are not meeting and are chips. A side view at high magnification will show the chip.The 1st photo shows the chips, second after some honing and third fully set bevel.

Take a look at a thread in the Honing Forum, Second Try at Honing for a photo pictorial of a new honer going from bevel set to shave ready. There are lots of good photos on what to look for.