Quote Originally Posted by eKretz View Post
Being able to shave from a stone without stropping doesn't really give any useful info IMO. YMMV of course. Many hones leave a slight microscopically tiny burr or wire - even if only in irregular patches along the blade - that gets wiped right off during even the first few strokes of stropping. Some stones more cleanly remove it than others. So for me at least, stropping is the finish step of the honing process, and I would no sooner shave with an unstropped razor than I would with an ink pen personally.
Wow. Maybe I'm having an issue with my edges and I'm trying to eliminate variables. Also I would think more irritation would occur with a wire edge, but I recognize I am relatively new at this. Also I only have one finisher at the moment so it would seem like a good time to familiarize myself with how a razor feels coming off it. Thanks for the responses guys. Now where did I put that ink pen.....