Quote Originally Posted by Utopian View Post
The only objective way for a beginner to determine if a razor is good is to have someone who knows what they are doing evaluate it. Sorry, I don't see any way around it.
I am planning to try to meet with somebody, communicating privately.

Meanwhile, I have a leather strop and a felt pad. I read the wiki on stropping, and also watched some videos (one was particularly bad--flipping the razor on the sharp side--good thing I don't believe the first thing I see).

The leather strop is wider then the blad, as is the felt pad. The wiki has a video where the razor is pulled off the edge of the strop as it is stropped.

The point behind this would be good to know. In other words, can this be skipped if you have a wide strop?

Also, which is best to finish on? The felt or the leather?

Thanks.