I would say that if you are only getting five shaves before having to rehone again either you have the toughest beard known to man or your razor is only marginally sharp and you need some more time on the 8K or whatever you are using to increase the sharpness of the blade. As far as lifting the spine off the edge I realize everyone has their own way of doing things and I would be the first to say if it works for you then do it but that proceedure is a real no-no. I don't think you'll find a single peson alive or dead that would advise you to do it that way.

Remember that stropping does not sharpen the edge. It just dresses it and reshapes the fins. So I'm not really sure what your doing. By the book you should be deteriorating the edge.