It may indeed be just coincidence, or a dry indoor winter environment. We've been having a long drought here. I think I successfully honed my first razor after two months of trying only last October.

When I first noticed this effect (and it is slight) was the first time I successfully honed with my DMT8K in October. At the time, I just chalked it up to friction from honing. This was before any stropping.

What got me thinking about this was recently honing up two razors in fairly quick succession. They felt sharp on the hone, and felt sharp using TPT. Yet when I tried them against arm hair, no go. After repeated tries, I noticed this static-y sensation, and they popped hairs.

Then again, this is probably coincidence. Or that I have carpeted floors, so it's plain ol' friction static being conducted by the steel due to time of year. Or that I am mistaking the sensation of very fine arm hairs that I can't see getting grabbed and popped, and it feels like static when it really isn't.

Thanks for listening, I wondering if this was a common thing, or "tell" of sharpness. I guess we all have our honing quirks and eccentricities.