Thanks for the info on the tests. I have a few questions though. I've been using a straight for about 2 months now and get good shaves. I've finally gotten to the point where I usually don't cut myself shaving and the quality of the straight shaves is on par with my DE shaves. However, I still feel that I'm not getting the razor to its optimal sharpness. My razor passes the fingernail test easily, but not the thumb test. I've stoped the blade quite a bit and the razor still does not dig into my thumb and easily moves sideways. The razor shaves from okay to good, but not as well as I'd like. I'm not sure if I need to hone more or if something else is wrong. I've done a ton of honing over the past two months and think that my technique is at least okay. When I finished honing this blade, it easily passed the fingernail test.

I'm thinking maybe my stop is the problem. It is very old and I've just used it without any cleaning or conditioning. The leather is generally smooth (except for the bottom 4-5 inches where the leather is rough). Is the strop the problem? Should I clean and condition it? Can I use a general leather cleaner, such as for furnture and boots, or do I need a different product for cleaning? I think my strop technique is okay. I feel the sucking of the blade mentioned in another thread. Well, I feel that I've made great progress with learning straight shaving, and now get good shaves, but I still feel that I'm groping in the darkin search of the perfectly sharp blade. I'm not sure what I need to do to start improving again.

Thanks for reading all this and for any help you can proivide! Bob