Thread: My first better honing and shaving

Finally i had much better shave with my straight. The razor i used was very dull at the beginning. I set the bevel until the blade passed TNT and cut armhair easily. Then i moved to 4k grit and honed until i felt much better sharpness and passed TPT. I really don't know how many strokes i did but i think it was approximately 20..30. Unfortunately i don't have 8k grit because here in Poland it is extremelly difficult to get one (i found a shop where it can be purchased but it is very expensive and out of stock now). Directly after honing i brought the razor to the strop and did 10 strokes. Then i shaved. It was much better than before. Obviously at the beginning i shaved WTG and most of hair were cut without problems. After that, i shaved ATG. It wasn't painful but i felt some pulling (however it was acceptable at this stage ofmy experience i think). So now i'm thinking what to do to improve sharpness of my razor. I thought of doing additional 5 strokes on the 4k and 20..30 on 12k (the 12k grit hone is the only one higher grit hone i have now). Is it correct ? Perhaps many more strokes are necessary but i don't know exactly.
Also, i'm a bit confused about stropping. A person at the Youtube told me not to do too many strokes on the strop (10..20 only) as it can dull the edge quckly. From what i've read so far, most people recommend giving even 30..50 strokes.