What is your go to routine

I don't strop on leather after honing, but finish on pasted balsa. It seems to do the trick.

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Sometimes, I will go 50 on leaded leather, but always 100 on linen or hemp then 200 on horsehide. It always makes for a buttery smooth shave.

If I strop after honing, it's only on an Ezra Arthur bridle leather strop, and not much. Honestly I haven't had to hone a razor in 3 months now, I'm trying to replicate your pasted balsa experiment you did 10 years ago....changed it a little, I'm using pasted leather strops (3" leather pieces mounted on paddle handles). I do have a couple 'in the bin' that need a refresh, as I've lightly nicked the edge one way or the other over time.

IIRC, I thought I heard not only in a couple of your videos, but also there was note included with the razor you rescaled and honed....do not strop before use.

Here is the letter send

I do say that, but it is because it has already been stropped in by me and I don't want newbs to mess up my edge stropping it before they try it...

How Your Razor was Honed​

I have started to include this letter with all my razors….
Unless otherwise requested all razors are taped with one layer of 3M #700 electrical tape while on the stones….
If your razor had Geometry Issues I might add layers of tape to make up for that … ____ Layers

They do not need to be taped on any kind of strop, only if you go back to a hone….and even then about 20 laps will erase the taped bevel on a 4k hone…

Stones and Hones:

___ Belgian Select Grade Yellow Coticule ___ Naniwa SS 1-3-5-8-10-12
___ Belgian Blue Whetstone ___ Shapton GS 1-2-4-6-8-16-
___ Charnley Forest Stone ___ Chosera 1-5-10
___ Japanese Nakayama Midori Nashiji ___ Haida Gwaii Hone
___ Escher Blue/Green Waterstone ___ Swaty Bench Hone
___ German BlackThuringen Waterstone ___ Chinese Guangxi Waterstone
___ Super White Arkansas Stone ___ Zulu Grey Waterstone
___ Lydian Touchstone-Basnite


After honing the razor is normally stropped on one of many choices of pasted strops for comfort then finished on an Illinois Russian #827 with 50/100 Linen/Leather laps After the strops, and a test shave, they are re-stropped and then dipped in a germicide left to air dry as per the instructions….
I do this the same way every time, to make sure that the sharpness of the edge is on me, not on your ability, or lack thereof to strop the razor…
Please for yer first shave, just rinse, and shave …
(It is always recommended that for your first shave you start with the sideburn to jawline stroke, then only expand from thereafter you are comfortable and confident with that)

I am now recommending, to keep the edge at the keenest level possible, that you strop 25 laps on a linen strop, then 50 laps on leather before each subsequent shave ….
Also if your razor was restored, you need to keep it oiled for at least 1 month, as the newly cleaned steel is much more susceptible to oxidation…

Thank you for “Trusting” me with yer face …… Date honed: ___ /___ /___
Glen / gssixgun@gemstarcustom.com
​

Wow! That’s a fantastic honing progression! After I work my way up to my Naniwa 12k, I go to my linen for 25 laps and then leather for 50 laps. I feel like such an amateur.

Not a progression those are just different options that are available in the hone chest

ie: Most razors leave here after a progression of

Chosera 1-5-10 and a natural finisher that I chose from experience and feel

The squeeze of the forum software makes the actual letter look jumbled

I always strop on linen and leather after honing. Anecdotally, it seems to make a difference in how smooth the shave feels. It takes 3 min so I'm not wasting much time even if it's not needed.

Glenn, what goes into deciding the stones you use on a razor? Is it based on the steel quality/carbon content, blade design (wedge versus full hollow), etc.

Yes

It was at the beginning, now it is more on past experience,,

I have a pretty unique situation of getting feedback from many different people, on many different razors, honed on many different finishes, so it isn't just my opinion..

I tracked the responses especially the "WOW" responses I got back from customers, it gave me insight on where to head with certain families of razors to please the majority of people.

For example, I know that if I have a W&B heavy from the 1800's I am NOT going to hone on the Shapton System and send it home with a 30k edge, I am going to have the best chance of a WOW !!! response if I finish on a Select Grade Coticule using the smashed slurry technique.
By my calculations, I stand an 80%+ chance of getting that WOW response from my customer using that choice.

There are also "Meh" razors, for example, the standard Dovo's, it really has never made any difference as to what hone I finish on it is going to be a good outcome., but put a Fritz Bracht era Dovo on an Escher and I am going to hear WOW !!!!


To be clear we are talking about the difference of the very top of the edge here, but once you get a WOW edge you will chase them more and more...

It depends on the razor, the progression and where I am working on the razors. Some razors have taken a couple of runs to get to Wow for me.

Stainless Chinese razor : synthetic progression, followed by diamond pasted balsa.
Swedish and German : coticule, usually dilucot, foreword by linen and plain leather
Sheffield : Welsh progression, Charnley Forest, or vintage Yellow Lake. Or Scotch stone progression. If the razor felt good on the stones, linen and leather only. If not, then pasted leather (a couple of options) followed by plain leather.

After oil stone refreshes, generally linen and plain leather.

They are the general options. Of course I am always experimenting. Any chance to try something different and I'll go for it.

In between each stone I have small paddle strop. After the finishing hone I use pasted strops, either CROX then FeO3 or diamond pastes. After the first shave I do a couple of laps on FeO3, then 20 linen and 60+ leather.

You are far from the only one that does a light stropping between hones, I have read that a few times now, can you explain your thinking behind it ???

In a similar vein the big turning point for me with coticules was when I started stropping after I had run the dilucot progression prior to honing with just running water. Why does it work? No clue. If someone can explain it I would be very interested.

The biggest reason is I want to make sure the bevel is clean before I move onto the next stone. The second is to make sure there isn’t a foil edge. No idea if this makes a difference....

Makes perfect sense..

I use a lighter and lighter Thumbnail test as I am climbing the ladder to do the same until I get to the finisher makes for a smoother edge IMHO

I strop between hones the first time that I hone a razor. A little leather will bring up a little polish and make it easier to see stuff with the loupe.

To all;

I received one of these letters.... still have it....... with my beginning straight that I bought from Glen.

That and a few electronic message exchanges became a great foundation for me in open edge shaving.

I still strop 25/50 before each shave.