Quote Originally Posted by Marshal View Post
Stones, pastes, and films are for the edge. The strop is for your skin.

There's a difference between damage (unwanted change) and what stropping (wanted change) does. We want the weak metal flakes and foil removed from the edge (even if it does reduce keenness), because that garbage results in an uncomfortable shave when it breaks away mid shave rather than on the strop before the shave. It also repairs the edge by pulling a bit of metal up over those chipped areas. The keenest edge is not necessarily the most comfortable. I suspect that's why a lot of folks that strop to .25 um diamond paste end up backing their razor down to .5 micron ChromOx, then head back to linen and leather to tone it down further still...

https://scienceofsharp.wordpress.com...-stropping-do/
Makes sense. Probably why when I strop before the final stone it really sets up a good result. Nice combo of keen yet buttery smooth.


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