Thread: What am I doing wrong?

Originally Posted by animalwithin

Glen, I thought X-strokes were only for hones or strops that weren't wide enough to cover the entire blade?

Unfortunately there are many posts that say just that...

The simple explanation is that most razors, hones and strops are not near perfectly straight, so that even a slight "Pattern" will help eliminate any problems. The most common problem that arises from straight up & down strokes while honing is a Frown

Note that I said pattern, there are different ones, and most anything that is not straight up and down will work, The "X" Pattern gets recommended the most because it has been demonstrated to work, and is posted on SR related things going back at least 150 years