I think I'm on to something! After reviewing the honing technique of Murray Carter, a prominant knife maker, I applied his knife sharpening technique to the straight razor. Preliminary results? INCREDIBLE! If you are not familiar with his technique, search youtube for "scary sharp". Basically the difference is to strop the razor on the fine hone. In other words, you move the edge away from the hone instead of into the edge. So far, after two razors, I don't even use paste anymore. This was my process. Note: when stropping on the hone, use NO pressure.
1. set the bevel on the 1000 grit.
2. After bevel is set, strop on the 1000 grit for 5 passes.
3. Strop on the 4000 grit for 5 passes.
4. Strop on the fine hone (in my case an Escher) 20 passes.
5. Test razor, and do additional passes on the fine hone if needed.
5. Strop on leather.
Razor came out incredibly sharp, similar to stropping on .25 diamond paste. I think some experimentation is needed and would like to hear the results of others. This is incredible!
1. set the bevel on the 1000 grit.
2. After bevel is set, strop on the 1000 grit for 5 passes.
3. Strop on the 4000 grit for 5 passes.
4. Strop on the fine hone (in my case an Escher) 20 passes.
5. Test razor, and do additional passes on the fine hone if needed.
5. Strop on leather.
Razor came out incredibly sharp, similar to stropping on .25 diamond paste. I think some experimentation is needed and would like to hear the results of others. This is incredible!