Thread: Can anyone explain the reason behind the X strokes?

Originally Posted by Carlospppena

If you have a full size hone, What is the benefit of the X stroke?

None that I've been able to discern as long as the hone is flat.

Still do it out of habit since I learned to hone on a 1 7/8" hone.

Yes, as said above, razors are rarely perfectly flat and straight.

An X stroke is a simple way to alter, the pressure shift from the heel to the toe and hone the edge completely.

With a smiling razor, you may need to additionally lift the heel, but only slightly, when combined with an X stroke. Often the pressure shift is only as much as something you think about, kind of like turning a bicycle or motorcycle, you rarely turn the handle bars.

On a razor with a straight edge, if you hone with a perfect straight stroke without adjusting pressure to the heel or toe, you will eventually hone a frown however small, because that is where pressure normally concentrates.

Ink the whole bevel and put the razor on a high grit stone, do each stroke and you will see the impact of pressure, intended or not.

An X stroke evenly applies pressure and compensates for uneven straightness of the edge, any warp and/or thickness of the blade.

Several years ago there was a guy who felt it more important to be right rather than to learn how to hone. HERE is one of the many threads he started before selling off his hones.

HERE is another. Kaptain Zero had a nice explanation in it.

Basically the reason for the x stroke is that it ensures that the entire length of the blade makes contact with the blade. The best stroke is the rolling x stroke to make this happen. It is accomplished by imagining that your hone, no matter how wide it is in reality, is only 1 inch wide. That one inch strip along the edge of the hone should be where you should be focussing on contacting with the blade. As the x stroke progresses, the region of the blade making contact with the hone transfers progressively along the edge from the heel to the toe.

Originally Posted by Utopian

Several years ago there was a guy who felt it more important to be right rather than to learn how to hone. HERE is one of the many threads he started before selling off his hones.

HERE is another. Kaptain Zero had a nice explanation in it.

I found this that I am quoting from Utopian in the first link. I had not thought of it this way.

"Keep in mind that the Norton hones are NOT razor hones. By that I mean that they were not made to be razor hones. They simply are usable as razor hones. I don't know how many people are aware of this, but Norton also makes a set of hones that are 1.5 inches wide and I believe they are much more practical for razors."

I've yet to finda razor that some variant of the X-stroke can not hone. I do however, have several that can NOT be honed with straight back and forth strokes on a 3" wide hone. Not unless you want to turn your smiling razor into a frowning razor.

Same thing applies for strops and the X stroke. I don't have a single razor that can not be stropped with an X stroke. I do have a few that, if using straight back and forth laps you will never touch the heel or toe with the strop.

YMMV.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

Yes, as said above, razors are rarely perfectly flat and straight.

An X stroke is a simple way to alter, the pressure shift from the heel to the toe and hone the edge completely.

With a smiling razor, you may need to additionally lift the heel, but only slightly, when combined with an X stroke. Often the pressure shift is only as much as something you think about, kind of like turning a bicycle or motorcycle, you rarely turn the handle bars.

On a razor with a straight edge, if you hone with a perfect straight stroke without adjusting pressure to the heel or toe, you will eventually hone a frown however small, because that is where pressure normally concentrates.

Ink the whole bevel and put the razor on a high grit stone, do each stroke and you will see the impact of pressure, intended or not.

An X stroke evenly applies pressure and compensates for uneven straightness of the edge, any warp and/or thickness of the blade.

Very well said Euclid!

The X stroke is something that needs to be in the arsenal, but it's just one of the tools needed.

Where does the most wear occur on a razor during stropping?

I am quoting here a post by Randydance in the 1st thread that Utupian mentioned above:

Originally Posted by randydance062449

The question assumes that the edge is perfectly straight and that the pressure is constant. Both are seldom the case. Our very nature makes us use a different pressure during the honing stroke and that alone will cause the razor to wear unevenly. That of course results in the edge losing it's straightness.

Logically you are correct but the underlying assumptions are not realistic.
The edge on most razors are not straight and the pressure we use will vary during the stroke.

So far the stroke that I use the most is the rolling X stroke. It accomadates the variances in both the razors and the hones.

Just my $.02,

This sums it up very well. I do tend to go straight up and down 3" hones but do shift the pressure a bit, similar to the rolling X-stroke.

Out of all my razors, many of them NOS only one of them has complete contact between all the edge and hone in a straight line, even with that one i use a slight X strokes simply because of muscle memory.