I'm new still to razor honing, having now only done 14 ebay specials I am very much still developing my razor technique.

I had been finishing on a 12k naniwa followed by a cro ox pasted strop but I was finding the edges pretty harsh until they were 3 or 4 saves in, at which time they became comfortable.

With that in mind the last 3 razors I have honed I've skipped the cro ox and instead gone straight to a plain linen and leather strop (2-3 hundred on the linen and about the same again on the leather). Using this method I have been getting nice comfortable shaves straight away.

Does anyone else find it much more pleasant to just strop after the last stone or am I missing a trick with the cro ox ?