Thread: Are X Strokes Necessary If...

I always use circles and Xs, as recommended by Lynn, for setting bevels, and X strokes for the rest of it no matter what the width of the hone is. I more or less follow the 1961 barber manual tutorial that I frequently post the link to here.

Running the blade straight across a wider hone is fine as long as the hone and the blade are perfect and making good contact throughout the stroke. I can't see it but I suspect that there will be anomalies between the two. If not at the beginning of the honing as the stone and razor begin to wear. The X stroke seems to be effective in keeping the hone/blade contact more uniform than it might be otherwise. Just IMHO.