Quote Originally Posted by jgjgjg View Post
The thing I *really* want to figure out is what, exactly, a strop does. I was looking at Ron's Hock's "teh perfect edge" and was fascinated by the micrographs.

That leads naturally into what may literally be a $64,000 question: is there a natural stone that can make the strop un-neccesary? Don't ask me why this fascinates me. I have no idea.

How'dja like the Zulu Grey?
If you really do have a case of HAD, PM me and I'll be willing to sell you my 11X3 Zulu at a great price. The edges from the Zulu are what everyone says they are, very velvety smooth and very comfortable. Overall, I prefer a very keen edge and I'm not sure that the Zulu delivers that to my taste. One thing I learned from teh Zulu is that it gives you nothing on the house. If you have a razor that notoriously is difficult to hone or does not usually take the best of edges, don't expect the Zulu to sort that out for you. As you might expect, I got the best edges from it on razors that were known to produce great edges to begin with. My Revisor liked it, my Friodurs liked it, and even a few no names liked it. But my Hart ( a razor that gives me fits) predictably did not. For those razors, synthetics were a better option. It does provide a very different feel that some really love. When I stopped trying to get it to do what it apparently is not good at, I found the edges to be better if not exactly what I was looking for. Same thing for my 12K SS. I kept on trying to get that last level of keenness out of it and was pushing it too far. My edges started to break down and get harsh. I've learned to be very cautious with the use of that stone now. It can deliver what it can deliver and the razor plays a big role in the outcome. The Zulu is great is you enjoy a mellow smooth feel. Its high on comfort that's for sure.