Thread: Shaved without stropping after honing.

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.

The irritation is most likely from not stropping. I have forgotten to strop because I was so excited to get a razor I was having trouble getting shave ready. It worked but got MUCH smoother after stropping.

Love those Robesons. Easy to hone. Smooth great shavers...

I shave straight off the hone when I am trying out a new hone from a new spot rockhounding. I do a simple prep, and lather with the same soap. It is to feel what the hone does to the edge and not how smooth it gets after stropping. It always gets better with stropping.

Originally Posted by RezDog

It always gets better with stropping.

And for that reason, and because stropping is a normal part of the shaving routine, I never skip stropping after honing.

Just wanted to see how it felt coming straight off the 12k. The irritation on my face was not really worth mentioning. Just trying to be completely honest. The neck irritation was noticable , but I've certainly had much worse.

IMO an unstropped edge isnt finished! The strop comes with the hone. I do 80 on vintage linen and 80 leather after a hone. I sometimes do that daily as well.

Of course it isn't finished. I'm not saying I'm not going to strop anymore. I just used it as a test to see how my honing was progressing in regards to getting a comfortable shave from a blade that I honed. As there really was little irritation, I felt positive about it. I wanted to experience the edge before I changed it by stropping.

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.

This is not the first time around for this topic. Unless I am experimenting with a new hone I always strop, but it is a very good experiment in edges. Of course if you only ever do it with one hone it has no comparative value and like so many things in this hobby we all have our own paths to walk.