Quote Originally Posted by heavydutysg135 View Post
The argument against backhoning is that the metal particles that are being honed off get trapped and accumulate under the edge causing microchipping/damage of the fine edge that you are trying to create. This does not happen with edge leading honing because the metal particles are pushed out of the way. Dr. Verhoeven's (spelling could be wrong) scientific article explains it very well.
I totally agree with this.

To clarify what I wrote before, I do lots of back honing at lower grits where it doesn't make that much difference, mainly to get rid of the big, deep chips--and I always, always, always finish with a few forward strokes with no back-honing.

When polishing with barber stones, I back hone just a little, but most of the strokes are forward strokes, certainly the last 20 or so.

And now, I am going to take HEAVEYDUTYSG135's advice and pour myself a beer, and then play with my belgian blue and my yellow coticule again.

This is so much fun I may sell my motorcycle so I have more time to play with razors.