Thanx Jimmy,
So, just to address a few concerns.
I am resting the razor between shaves.
I am making subjective evaluations of the shave, both before 24 hours, or resting, and after 48 hours of resting.
I am not making any postulations on the cause of the subjective impressions. For example, I'll not postulate that the steel moved in any way (even if the shave feels dramatically better).
Variables always exist. You may choose not to agree with the observations. I'm only going to try to make them repeatable for others. If you are not familiar with qualitative research please read up on the concept. Variables can be accounted for and mitigated against and tests don't have to be quantitative, to be valuable.
Also, please don't be fearful of the potential results. If your assumptions are correct than they should be confirmed by the results.
If everyone's assumptions are correct, it should be easy and quick to disprove the resting theory.
The thesis I'm trying to evaluate is not that resting is beneficial or that it changes the steel composition. I'm only evaluating whether it seems to improve the shave or comfort.
If we can replicate the conditions when it seems to increase comfort, perhaps, with our better scientific understanding prevelant today, along with the collaboration and peer review of a forum, we may be able to target the real cause of the "resting" theory.
So, really the question to be addressed is not "Does resting improve an edge?", but at this point, more towards "Why did people back in the day think that resting improved an edge?".