This is a Takashima stone:


The stone pictured here, is a Yaginoshima:


I'm still very much a beginner, so keep that in mind regarding aything I say. My beautiful Mastro Livi New Grind arrived in great shaving shape from SRD. Full of myself on the 3rd or 4th shave, I stropped the blade in a way that made my next shave so uncomfortable that I stopped in the middle, and cleaned up with a cartridge.

Later, I stropped the my razor a few times, checking to see what, if anything, was happening. The blade felt better using my thumb, but felt slick, not toothy, and not scary. I thought what's the harm in giving it a few strokes on the JNATs. I started with Takashima wet, with a little slurry raised with a synthetic nagura. After a while, I noticed that the bevel, though a few hairs wide, seemed very even, and the edge was toothier. I pulled the razor over my arm hair, about an 1/8th of an inch above skin to see what's what. I heard some tinkling, and saw a few hairs pop off. I figured I got somewhere. Then I put the blade through it's paces on the Yaginoshima: first with a slurry raised from a natural nagura that came with the stone, then without. The bevel got noticably shinier, like a strand of tinsel. the spine was shiny like a mirror. The blade still popped hair, and felt scary to my thumb pad. I stropped very carefully, trying to be as precise as possible, not flailing about in imitation of someone who's been doing it for a long time (the cause of the problem). My next shave was very pleasant. So was the next, and the next. I've repeated this process whenever I've felt a shave that didn't feel right. So far, I've got about the same level of improvement from each honing session.

I really haven't shaved that much, and feel that I've got to be doing something that is below par, since I feel I have to hone so often. Could be my stropping. I'm a beginner, so everything I do is a variable. Anyway, not discouraged, and soldiering on.

Cheers,

Jack