Here's what I THINK I know, PLEASE let me know if I'm off base.

Seems that, as I get used to it/better at it, there are more and bigger areas of my face that are barber shop close. I THINK this means I'm getting the 'with the grain / against the grain' thing right in those areas, and not quite right in the areas that are less than baby butt smooth.

My face has definitely gotten used to the razor, much less burn, a LOT less weepers, and lately even some of the "oops" maneuvers don't raise a spot of red. So yes, there will come a time when your styptic pencil gets a long long break.

Stropping is HUGELY important. I restored an old Case strop that was in pieces, and it seems to do a great job. One side is flat, the other side sort of dimpled. 5 round trips on each side (been about 6 months since I had it honed) and i'm getting a real good shave. Haven't tried linen yet, nor the 5 micron stuff.

I like a heavy blade with light scales. Seems the blade tracks better on my face, and the light scales don't make me fight it quite so hard to keep the angle the same around the less than linear areas. Plus my beard is like a wire brush, so the lighter blades seem to really have to work to get through it, especially on the bigger areas like my cheeks.

I rinse my razor (Filarmonica 13) with very hot water when I'm done, then wipe it down. I figure any water left on the blade will get evaporated quickly, and the razor still looks brand new. Hot tap water, so I figure I'm not hurting the blade. True?

I tried the oil pre shave stuff, didn't seem to make any difference. I always shave right after a shower. Seems a waste of money, unless someone can give me a hint on better using it.....

'Shave ready' razors aren't, unless you are talking to someone who knows what the hell they are talking about. Based on this, as soon as the current straight razor fad wears off, I'm looking to pick up some very expensive razors at a VERY cut rate (no pun intended, especially one as lame as that...). If you don't spend some quality strop time, the razor (a Dovo from The Art of Shaving in my case, gifted to me) will feel like a cheese grater.

Just some random thoughts in between swigs of malted beverages. Any other folks out there got Helpful Hints for a fellow explorer, crack a couple beers and we'll figure it out!

paulie