Seventy year old barber, Frank Natale, with 50+ years of barbering under his belt, told me two things mentioned in those articles. For one thing, he said that if you had a full hollow you should hear a ring when you flicked the point with your fingernail. This he said was only applicable to full hollows and if they ring they have good temper/good steel. If you try this and your full hollow doesn't ring, don't be bummed out. I've found that it ain't necessarily so.

The other is indirect. Frank told me when stropping always make sure the side that will be the first to touch your face will be the last side stropped. If he elaborated on that I don't recall what he said. I assume it is to have the microscopic deflection of the edge going away from, rather than toward the skin.

Thanks again for the articles Martin. Always interesting and informative.