I aim to please... However, Deburring isn't the main sense of the strop... The main purpose of the strop is to clean the edge of the razor, keep corrosion/oxidation away, and to align the edge of the razor... Abrasive strops, hones, etc all sharpen, remove metal, and remove burrs. The stropping may remove burrs, but it also may not. The alignment is the major point
Really...alignment? that is facinating. I guess that makes sense, but I never would have guessed that myself. I am very new to all of this so I am like a sponge and working with no real knowledge foundation.
Well the principle behind honing - much like with knives... And this is about the only thing the two have in common - is that sharpening the blade is NOT intended to remove teeth. It is intended to shrink them. Think of a wood saw, and a metal saw (Hack-saw, if that's your terminology) - The metal saw feels sharper to the touch for its smaller teeth (If you're using this comparison in the real world, rather than as a verbal analogy, test with a brand new hack-saw, or else you'll have a very dull feeling edge... Metal is hard stuff to cut after all.) As you hone, you lead with the edge of the blade, which means you are grinding down the teeth smaller and smaller as you do passes and go up in grit, however, since the blade is leading, the tiny teeth can catch on the stone and bend/break. That's why, in my theory at least, after honing, you strop to push all the teeth that bent out of the line back into one straight line. Since the edge trails, all the teeth get pressed back to order slowly, rather than being forced there directly and potentially breaking. That way the pressure isn't on the teeth, rather they just follow the natural angle from spine to edge. Am I just making things more confusing?
Perhaps this will help http://www.scribd.com/doc/10044505/Experiments-on-Knife-Sharpening-John-Verhoeven This is the Verhoeven paper on sharpening, this is a complete overload of info but for techie types it has a ton of stuff... Be very careful when relating sharpening of knives to razors there are differences. The word you are searching for with Stropping and what it does is 'Burnish" a strop does not really have a sharpening effect, (please engineer types yes I know about hypotheticals, but lets talk real time) it burnishes the steel into the finest edge possible then after the beard does it daily damage it removes any micro corrosion and re-burnishes the next day... Anyone who uses a white linen strop for any amount of time can show you the evidence of the corrosion embedded in the linen... The area of the edge we are talking about if the very tiny front cutting edge, sometimes refereed to as the "Fin" this is what gets dinged and straightened everyday Theoretically speaking from shaving.... I hope that clears it up just a touch instead of confusing it even more with information overload
That paper mentions neither teeth, fins, nor striations. Burnishing the razor should of course make the bevel shinier, but I don't see how it necessary makes a finer cutting edge. And I don't see how it could align misalignments either The detailed micromechanics (hey, as long as we're making up terms to match our hairbrained ideas ) of stropping are still a mystery to me PS in a recent internet poll (http://www.straightrazorplace.com/forums/stropping/28034-does-stropping-keep-razor-sharp.html), nobody could agree on what stropping really does Does plain leather stropping keep a razor sharp? Yes, it sharpens the edge -- 23.86% No, it only smooths the edge -- 57.95% I don't know -- 10.23% What difference does it make? Just strop & shave (AKA I don't know) -- 11.36%
I mastered stropping a long time ago. From my considered experience I can authoritatively say this: stropping is done because it's supposed to be done. So say all barber manuals. What this used to do is scare the daylights out of the barber's customers. We do it to keep tradition alive. :happy102
Perhaps it is just that, after all the commercial blade manufactuers spend big money on teflon etc: coatings to make their blades cut easier/smoother, so perhaps just that extra tiny bit of polishing of the blade from the strop that is the difference.... Perhaps all that science BS is just a fancy way of saying the blade is slicker I am good with that too ...
That's how I tend to look at it but for me it's just a simpler theory that seems more likely. The best I've done so far is verify that stropping helps me get better shaves
I am so glad there has been such interest and activity for this subject. The reason I piped in to this thread was not only my over analytical personality and the science behind stropping; but also what was best for me. It might be only achieved with trial and error, but I was debating of making one leather strop and one linen one. However, I read many places where guys were using one leather with paste and one leather with none. This discussion was at first helping me decide what I was going to do. NOW, I think, every questions answered with a question more. So far I am leaning to making a linen and a leather. Maybe a second leather with no paste to see if I find anything to enlighten me.
You can have a leather pasted strop but not for daily stropping. You need an unpasted leather strop for the daily pre shave stropping. I might suggest you use the linen for your paste instead.
I exclusively use carbon steel blades and, in my experience, I need to strop 25 on the linen and 50 on the leather to get a comfortable edge. About 3 months ago, I started shaving my head and wasn't getting the results I expected from my 3/4 grind LeGrelots and decided to try a full hollow to see if there was any difference. It so happens that the razor that gave me better results was a full-hollow Friodur stainless steel blade. The interesting thing that I noticed that has to do with this thread is that the Friodur performs best with stropping on the leather only and with only 25 strokes. On the basis of that, I'm going to throw my vote to the idea that stropping removes micro-corrosion on the theory that a stainless steel blade has less.
Thanks Chimensch. That is an interesting new take on some new and creative data. Here I was looking just as strops and their characteristics. However, It makes sense the alloy of the blade would also be a major factor. I see I will be doing many tests. I only have one blade. I have no doubt as I get more in to this art of shaving, I will aquire more razors. I better make sure at least one of them is Stainless.
I recently left my strop on the counter when I was giving my grandfather-in-law a shave. My son came along with some candy hands and got some sticky on it. What is the best way to clean my stop?
I am not an expert, but I do know leather and the rubbing compounds that most folks use for this application. Both materials are not like paper and a damp cleaning cloth is not going to hurt either of them. Is this some sugarcane syrup? If it is something like that, most likely it will just desolve and whip up with a few swipes. Or try Stroping with the junk on there, who knows you may discover the new Stroping trick we have all been looking for. IAN
The 24 Hour Wait... I heard that after you shave with a straight, you should wait at least 24 hours before you strop again because the cutting edge develops burrs and they stretch out after shaving and that waiting 24 hours will let the metal go back to its original position and then you can strop the burrs off. If you strop before the 24 hours period is up, I heard that the burrs and/or metal could break off or warp. Now, if it does not cause any major harm, I always have and will continue to strop just a few hours after shaving, and actually right before the shave. (Not continously, of course). Reason being is that I bought just a couple of real super cheap straights (new) off of ebay just to see if I would like straight razor shaving so I really don't care what happens to them because I have plenty of DE's and Gems to tide me over. Plus I enjoy stropping and helps to kill time, and these straights require a king's ransom in stropping time just to get a passable shave, although my shaves are improving little by little. Just curious.
I can only speak to the 24 hour question since I don't know what types of razors you have to answer anything more specific. Your understanding of why it used to be advised to wait 24 hours is consistent with literature I've read from years gone by. However, my personal routine is to strop on the leather before the shave, shave, dry the razor off on a towel and then strop on the linen side to help make sure the blade's edge is fully dry. I have noticed no ill effect on the edge and, though nothing scientific to base this on, I would say I find the next shave even more comfortable. So, I'm not sure the 24 hour resting period is still accurate, or if it ever was accurate. I would say stropping before the shave is necessary and if you shave every day at about the same time (say, the morning) it would be about 24 hours anyway, so nothing to worry about either way.
I would think that a properly maintained strop would last many generations. Since we aren't really grinding any leather off the strop, I don't think the few laps we give daily to strop a razor would cause a strop to wear thin. I think a strops useful life will be more determined by how it's treated (kept flat, properly moisturized to avoid dryness and cracking, etc.) I've seen a strop used daily at a barber's shop that is still in perfect condition and it has to be 50 years old or better. Now, don't take that to the bank, I could be all wrong but that's my current understanding.
Whip it out! how long is it? I am making a Strop and I decided to go with 19 inches. I have looked at a number of instructional videos and looked on ebay. They range from 12 to 24 and a rare 30. So I was wondering out of pure curiosity, what you guys sporting around here? How long is it? IAN
