Quote Originally Posted by nun2sharp View Post
5 round trips should be tops, even according to Swaty instructions, after the touch up you should strop and this should alleviate the harshness as well as refine the edge.

You know for years I've wondered about the 4-5 laps deal with Swatys and have pretty much come to the conclusion that it's a combination of a marketing ploy (use our stones and it only takes 4 strokes!) and an attempt by Swaty to keep the user from going crazy and overhoning. I'm also puzzled by people who think nothing of doing 100 laps or more on a Norton 8K or a Coticule being afraid of more than 5 laps on a barber hone.

Since I'm firmly entrenched in the "less is more" camp (and the razors I touch up are already fairly sharp) that's why my routine is 5 laps and test followed by 3 laps and test...and as many 3 and test as it takes. If it ain't sharp it ain't sharp.