Thread: Why the hone is better?

I have been shaving for a little while and have had a decent brush, razor, strop, and cream to work with. What I have come to find that as of the last few months I prefer to shave with my razor right from the hone but not from the strop. I have had the strop longer than this has been going on so I am wondering is it time for professional help with my razor or what? Thank you for reading my post.

It wouldn't hurt to have your razor assessed by an experienced hand. A microscope & a shavetest could tell a lot about your honing/stropping.
I can't make any assumptions as to your honing skill but I'm wondering if your bevel needs work.

There could also be a problem with your stropping technique.... Trust me stropping makes the blade better than just straight from the hone.

Enjoy,
Jeff.

I was using a hanging strop up until a few days ago when another forum member (shooter74743) graciously gave me one of his paddle strops. The difference between how the blades look under magnification after using the paddle strop is astounding. Given the issues that shooter was helping me work through and the difference between the strop he gave me and my original strop, I've come to the conclusion that stropping was the root of most of my problems. If you know someone with a paddle strop, you might give it a try; I won't be going back to a hanging strop.

I have minimal tools at my disposal, my primary metal remover is a 220/1k Norton India and my hone is a ceramic called a Moonstone, no idea who made it but I do remember the clear plastic box it was in when I was a kid, Moon stone was written across the lid. I learned how to hone by watching a lot of vids on how to do it and I believe I got lucky the first time and just kept stropping and honing from there. As for stropping, my strop is an Illinois 127 and my main complaint is that it has shoulders along the edges that do not let the razor rest flat along the leather almost the whole length of the strop. It worked fairly well at first and would not let the razor touch my face without 4 or 5 passes on the strop but now I do not like to even look at the dagon thing.

Originally Posted by scottad1

As for stropping, my strop is an Illinois 127 and my main complaint is that it has shoulders along the edges that do not let the razor rest flat along the leather almost the whole length of the strop. It worked fairly well at first and would not let the razor touch my face without 4 or 5 passes on the strop but now I do not like to even look at the dagon thing.

Another thing that might help, is once you know you have your stropping technique down you should do more laps. Generally most people are doing 40-60 laps on the strop before each shave.

I am a 35 to 40 lap guy, that's for sure. I think i have to fix my gear then complain about it but keep in mind I have been doing things the same way for 6 months with the same gear and the change in performance is only 2 months old at the most. It got so uncomfortable to shave that I switched back to the Mach 3 for a month until I went back to the way I was shaving before I had enough money to buy my strop.

Just to clarify tlittle, I strop 4 or 5 laps just before a shave and 35 to 40 after. Unless I miss the mark and need to strop 35 to 40 on both the pre and post shave, that could be a problem.

I usually do 40 laps on leather before shaving, but I do forget sometimes. I'd definitely hit the strop more before shaving if I were you and see if things improve. I'd also put the strop on something like a table or counter top and use it like a paddle strop. That way you definitely take the whole tension issue out of the equation.

Based off what you're saying, and I think there'll be some agreement from some more experienced shavers, it sounds like it's the strop and/or stropping that's hurting your edge.