Quote Originally Posted by carlmaloschneider View Post
When I say 'honing' I'm literally talking 10 laps on the Shapton 16k (20 for my Swedish razors with the harder steel). I keep a honing journal and in reality i refresh the edges quite a bit less than that. Initially your stropping may not be 100%, so the first time you need to refresh the edge may come around quicker than in the future. It would also depend a lot on your hair (i.e. heavy growth and actual thickness of the actual hair strand).

I guess you're going to make sure the Poplar is really flat? Why not buy some leather and glue it to the Poplar? One day I'll need to try CrOx, but I've never really felt the need, then again, maybe I don't know what I'm missing!

Yeah, I drew some zigzag pencil marks all across the face and put a piece of sandpaper on a flat surface and sanded until all the pencil marks were removed. I then applied the CrOx and wiped off the excess with a paper towel. There was hardly any CrOx left. I may get a piece of leather and try gluing it on.

I also do woodworking and have Japanese water stones and a Chinese 12K natural stone that I maintain wood planes and chisels with. I also have a DMT stone I use to lap the stones. I get a mirror finish on my chisels and plane blades and you can shave hairs with them. I guess I could use the 12K. I just figured you only used the hones only twice a year and the CrOx for touchups in between.