So, I'm only into this for a week, so this is clearly fresh newb experience (or lack thereof). I've had difficulty with the blade sticking and a little tugging, and I've pulled some rookie moves (like trying a TNT to check for sharpness). Reading various posts, including my own, I was coming to the conclusion that the blade either did not come fully sharp (it was advertised as shave ready on SRP classifieds) or I had blown the edge. In addition to the blade sticking and a little bit of tugging, I can't get the hair on my arm to 'pop' (although it will shave it) and on a TPT, the blade seems to glide more than stick. I say all of this as a known newb, knowing that I may have the tests wrong, bad technique, etc. I'm just trying to figure out my baselines. Okay, all that said...

So I read a few pages out of the 1961 barbering manual about stropping. I think it helped quite a bit. Having a little more confidence in my stropping, I took my razor several laps on the pasted side of my Filly strop (.5 Chromium Oxide) and then several more laps on the smooth side. When I went to shave, I thought I had my angle right, but apparently not, I just touched the blade to my cheek and - instant cut. I swear I didn't even move the blade other than to touch my cheek. So, I take it that this is a pretty good indication that my blade is indeed sharp and that I still need to develop a better understanding of sharpness tests.

Just trying to confirm my thoughts (still a newb). WDYT?

Thanks.