Thread: Is there a break in period after honing?

Originally Posted by niftyshaving

Strop smooth -- no pressure. The shave is made or lost on the strop.

I concur 100%

After I get done on the stones, I only strop around 10x to "check" the razor as to smoothness and sharpness. This is normally a wtg pass on the face (not neck) to use as a barometer. If it's not right I set it aside & take it back to the stones. The "right" and "wrong" is a learned feeling. If it's wrong, back to the stones. A lot of stropping will literally hide many issues of a razor directly off the stones, this is why I only lightly strop after honing. If a razor is "right", I then strop 10x on .5 micron diamond sprayed hard felt, 10x on .5 micron diamond sprayed leather, then 60x on leather. I then finish the shave. I use three passes: wtg, xtg, atg. If the razor gives a good shave, then I honed it correctly. This is what works for me no matter if it's a customers razor or my own...albeit bits and pieces are tried and true methods of some of the top honemeisters...

Believe it or not I read a ton of forums and posts about honing

Many Coticule only guys report that their best edges do not appear until after a heavy bout with the linen, then the leather ... almost a double hit of linen compared to the normal... so more like 50/50 or 100/100

Most people strop an 25/50 or a 50/100 Linen/Leather so try bringing the linen count up first as that seems to be a normal thing after using the "Cot" Techniques...

Please note that the lap numbers given are just for demonstration purposes your numbers may vary