Hi MemberFDIC,
I'm no expert on stropping, either, but my understanding of the reasoning behind stropping is to "repair" the blade after use. On a small scale, at the very edge of the blade, the metal can bend while cutting hairs. Stropping sets these little bends back in line so the blade is once again sharp. Stropping will not remove any of the metal from the blade, unlike honing. In fact, the actions of stropping are almost exactly opposite of honing since with stropping you are sliding the blade backwards along the strop, never ever forward. You must strop, obviously for every shave.
Pinklather was kind enough to send me a link to a thread you might find interesting:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/begin...ch-2011-a.html
If you look at the comments, bmcgrath posts a video from Afdavis that shows excellent stropping technique.
You can imagine how any minuscule blade imperfections would be straightened back out by this mechanical action.
As for when to strop, I normally strop after I shave. Once you strop, the blade won't degrade in any way so I don't see the harm in any delay between stropping and shaving. Some people prefer to strop just before they shave; I think it's all a matter of personal preference.
As for blade fires, that's why I avoid magnesium ones. Actually, I shave so slowly I doubt I could catch a thermite and sulfur blade on fire.