I've only been shaving with a straight razor for a little while. I bought an inexpensive Genco here from the class ifieds. It seems to work fine and strop fine. I just got a Temperite by Case off of fleabay. He said he would make it shave ready for me. When it came I stropped it on my Philly Strop, so it was leather only. I noticed a little dust while stropping, but thought nothing of it. I'll tell you about the shave in a second. I used it again last night, and realized that the razor is raising a very fine leather dust off of the strop. I've inspected the edge under magnification, and it looks smooth. When I shave with it, it feels like it wants to cut your face, but it doesn't. It gives me, I think, a closer shave then the Genco, but the blade doesn't feel as smooth on my face. It doesn't pull the hairs, it just feels almost toothie. As I said before, I did inspect the edge under about 20x mag. and it looked smooth. What Gives? I think I'll not use it again untill I get it honed by a pro. I have a few I need to send out. Thanks for any help.