Quote Originally Posted by honedright View Post
Yes. All of my razors have passed the HHT after stropping only.


Scott
I can get a blade to pass HHT before stropping, but sometimes it becomes so sharp that it's uncomfortable to shave with...

also I tried the same approach as you are, and got some decent shaves off of my honed razors but they were far from what I would now consider shave ready. It's amazing how much of a difference you can see when you have something to compare to. and even small tricks like stropping on newspaper can help you acheve phenominal improvements when you're starting out.

If you really insist on going the hard road like this, I would highly recommend 1) Lynn's dvd 2) a 4 side paddle strop from Tony with .05 chromium and 0.25 diamond paste. 3) a really good finishing stone. I use a Kitayama 12000 grit, but I hear the Belgian yellow is just as good if not better.
That's the best advice I can offer... You can do it, but eventually you will want to have one of the honemeisters hone a razor so you can compare.