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

Almost every blade has at least a slight smile so if you don't do an x-stroke you will do the center of the blade more than the heel and toe

Originally Posted by rodb

Almost every blade has at least a slight smile so if you don't do an x-stroke you will do the center of the blade more than the heel and toe

dear rodb, with respect... your response make me ask myself: what came first the hen or the egg? In other words, i think that the reason that most blades have a slight smile is the X stroke.

I am a newbie, nevertheless, the first thing i did to all the razors that i have bought is put the edge against a flat glass to verify that it is straight. Dovo, Boker, TI, Aust, Kanetaka, Stark, all of them were straight when they came in.

In the other hand, i bought two filarmonicas -definitely counterfeit, probably from Pakistan, jeje- to practice honing. Those had a slight smile on them. I mean, I am new to all this, there is a learning curve, and I thought stupid if I put a new expensive razor in a hone without knowing anything about that. So, I found the counterfeits in a barber supply store for $25 each. They were a good investment. Now i have been able to refresh my Aust, Dovo and Kanetaka to a pretty good shave. Those were a good instructional investment. But that is a different subject...

What do you think, rodb?

Straights have changed markedly over the decades You will be hard pressed to find a Sheffield blade from before 1880 that WONT have a "smile" and yes, they were made that way

later razors that were actually the straight straight edges, there didnt seem to be as much need for an x stroke, but the reality is, most people did not have a 3in wide stone. hell, most people did not have a stone.
As for "why does it work" I'm pretty sure its because when steel comes in contact with an abrasive, metal is removed, and done properly can result in an edge being produced
I'm not even going to start on the bent razor problems

geometry issues alone create a need to use an x stroke, to make sure all of the edge gets hones on every stroke, plus 3" stones are not all that common in the past, ie. thuringians and a lot of coticules, check them out a lot of 1 1/2 -2'" stones, just as mentioned, smiling blades need this to reach all of the edge, and just because your edge is a straight one , if the spine has geometry issues it causes the same affect.

plus your overthinking it, it works and has for a few hundred years I have one straight blade that has a warp in it, the edge really only gets honed as it approaches the edge of the stone on the x stroke, other wise on that side it would only hone the toe and heal, on the other side just the middle of the blade

I do an X stroke on any blade I hone. As I move the razor along the X, I keep the "emphasis" on the part of the blade near the edge of the hone. This way, if there are any inconsistencies on the blade, I deal with them automatically (the exception being the concave side of a warped blade). I've also never had a problem with blades wearing unevenly.

So for me, it's a bit of a Pascal's wager: I've developed a technique that works on (almost) any blade and have never noticed or thought of any downsides.

On most razors not everything is completely straight and true in all three dimensions. X-strokes compensate for that

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.

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.

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.