Hello again everyone. The advice I seem to be able to find from people who know oodles more that I do is that both honing and stropping should be done in an x shaped pattern. Could anyone tell me is this because the razor works better when the microscopic serrations are on a slight angle, or is it to ensure uniform honing and stropping on a hone and strop that is often not as wide as the razor. Would the need to use an x pattern be negated if I was able to find an extra wide strop and hone? Or is there some totally different explanation for the x pattern? Thanks for your help.
No razor or hone is ever perfectly flat. If you hone or strop in a straight line, you will end up with some parts of the blade sharper and smoother than others. The X pattern makes sure that every part of the blade touches every part of the hone or strop. But, as in all things, you should experiment until your satisfied with the explanation.
I think the X pattern came to be because most hones were more narrow than the blade. I like to smooth my scratch marks in my blade as smooth as possible for the most comfortable shave via CrO at the end of the honing process then of course the plain leather strop before shaving. You want scratch marks for cutting meat, not hair. There is meat very close to the surface of your face. I actually don't think it make much difference if you get it smooth at the end of your honing process. I do both straight and X pattern in my honing process. bj
2 schools of thought on this one there are. 1. Old barber manuals (and many shavers today) say the X pattern while honing creates striations( //// ) much like a saw and these micro striations are needed to slice the hair. Since the razor was honed like that, and stropping realigns those "teeth", it makes sense that you strop in the same X pattern. 2. It's not necessary for these teeth to be diagonal and, if you have a perfectly flat hone that is wide enough, you can go straight up and down. Same with using an wide strop. Chimensch gives what I consider the most valid reason for using an X pattern while honing and stropping. However, like most everything else, you are best served by trying different things out for yourself and taking what works while discarding what doesn't. Personally, since I use a barber's hone, I have to use the X pattern while honing but I have a 3" strop and I find I get the best edges stropping in a straight pattern as opposed to the X pattern. See, that doesn't fit in with either of the 2 schools I previously mentioned but, after trial and error, it's what works best for my razor, face and skill level.
