Thread: Shaved without stropping after honing.

Originally Posted by tedh75

So I finally made time to hone up a couple if my best razors. They were way over due. I've been using my Feather AC DX a lot, but have missed the straights. Also resetting my bevels with tape as I get to them.

A Robeson ShurEdge and a Boker Red Injun honed up to 12k on the Super Stones. I decided to try shaving without stropping first. I used the Boker on about a weeks worth of growth(is this bad for the edge on a hollow ground?)
I did my typical four pass shave which resulted in a bit of mild to moderate irritation when using the alum block around the crease in my neck and some barely perceptible irritation around my lips.

I feel pretty good about the result and next time I hone I think I'll try this after the 8k. Maybe eventually I'll try the 1k shave test. It felt great to shave with a straight again. I hope I'll be able to use the Robeson tomorrow. That is one if my favorite razors.

Way to experiment! Nicely done.

Thanks for the responses guys. Sorry if I got my hackles up a little bit. I did this for a couple if reasons, but the biggest reason was that I just wanted to know what it would feel like.

I got curious when rezdog said this has come up before. Here is one post I found if anyone is interested.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/shavi...stropping.html

Some of the comments were pretty similar. Obie said that shaving without stropping was like walking around with one sock.

On many stones it is. Whether you can shave straight from a stone has a lot more to do with the individual stone than it does how good a job you do honing. Some stones, the razor just will not shave well until you strop, and others will give a fine shave and not change a lot after stropping. It all depends on how much remnant burr/wire there is. Some stones leave barely any, some stones leave a bit but it is very fragile and just the act of shaving may remove it, and some stones leave a fairly substantial one - those absolutely need to be stropped before shaving.