Quote Originally Posted by Grazor View Post
Great info there cudarunner, one everyone starting out should watch. I have a couple of razors, one with 50 shaves on it, and another with 60 and counting using just a strop. One is a Puma, the other a Bengall. Looks to me that Liam is using a Puma. The Puma is feeling a bit dull, (probably my lack of skill at the time), but the Bengall is still going strong, and feels as sharp as the day it was "set". I find this to be one of the most interesting aspects of this hobby of ours, and have wondered what other members here have reached using just leather.
Same here, though I do use a linen. It's not an issue to stretch a razor with a good strop and linen (and using no abrasive) 180 shaves and still have a razor plenty sharp to shave.

Generally around 100 to 150 shaves, I'll get the itch to put the razor on a japanese razor hone that's got a mirror surface just to ensure that the edge quality stays smooth, but in terms of keenness, it usually drops a shade off of the hone until I've got a couple of weeks of shaving on it.

There's a reference to iwasaki saying that one of his razors was used for almost 1100 shaves without honing, and he states that he wasn't boasting about his razor's durability, but rather it was in the context of using a good quality linen along with the razor. I haven't seen any modern linens that are similar in their ability to step up an edge vs. the good vintage linens (and those good vintage linens don't get black because they don't have an abrasive in them to my knowledge).