Stropping?

Discussion in 'Straight Razors' started by Leclec13, May 1, 2019.

?

If you used tape when honing, do you use tape when stropping?

  1. Yes

    2 vote(s)
    11.1%
  2. No

    16 vote(s)
    88.9%
  1. Primotenore

    Primotenore missed opera tunity

    Article Team
    I consider myself a somewhat educated person, but there are some confusing posts here. I think I will simply observe and hold my tongue. :shocked002:
     
  2. Primotenore

    Primotenore missed opera tunity

    Article Team
    I get it now, Scott, thank you. See post #21. :shocked002: Starting.....now.
     
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  3. DaltonGang

    DaltonGang Ol' Itchy Whiskers

    It's all good. :happy088:
     
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  4. Primotenore

    Primotenore missed opera tunity

    Article Team
  5. Leclec13

    Leclec13 Well-Known Member

    you think its confusing here
    you should pop into https://theshaveden.com/forums/posts/1583194/

    some sort of battle royale
     
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  6. DaltonGang

    DaltonGang Ol' Itchy Whiskers

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  7. Leclec13

    Leclec13 Well-Known Member

    Drama is almost always entertaining! that math was too much for me almost had a panic attack.... failing physics and geometry again.....
     
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  8. DaltonGang

    DaltonGang Ol' Itchy Whiskers

    I'm not a fan of math either. I had all kinds, algebra, trigonometry, calculus, etc etc, in college, and hated it all. I could do it, but I hated it.
    I think only Engineers and Accountants like math.
    Oh, and my two daughters. I dont get it.
     
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  9. Keithmax

    Keithmax Breeds Pet Rocks

    I prefer to hone without tape but for some razors I use it. Even when I use double tape for a near wedge I strop without tape. Works fine. As long as you keep the spine and edge on the strop and don’t use to much pressure you will be fine. All you want to do is put a shine on the bevel without rolling the edge.

    Even if I hone with tape I follow up with pasted strops and no tape, my edges seem good.
     
  10. gssixgun

    gssixgun At this point in time...

    Supporting Vendor
    ^^^^ Yeah That

    Most strops have more than enough give to compensate for the Sub-Micron changes at the very edge of the bevel (Fin) for stropping

    If you are talking extremes like a hard stropping surface with pastes and MULTIPLE layers of tape I might re-think it
    To be clear I really don't recommend more than 3 layers of 700 or 88 type tapes thing start to get "Mushy" after that, I have done a few with 5 layers that were Heirlooms etc: but man that is a different playing field so the normal rules don't apply


    Factoid: So you have it

    On a 6/8 razor using 3M 700 one layer of tape changes the angle .67° so not even 1° this is microscopic in size at the bevel
     
  11. thesuperiorshave

    thesuperiorshave Well-Known Member

    0.67° sounds potentially significant to me in a world where the range only spans ~+/-3°...what is the standard deviation and how much does .67° compare to that?
    The convex stones I now use decreases bevel angle ~0.18°...again, maybe peanuts not worth quibbling upon. But sooner or later, add up all those peanuts and somebody might care, all other factors being equal.
    GM worked a long time engineering a new shape on the exterior mirrors of their extra large trucks in the mid-00s to save what amounted to less than 0.2 mpg in a controlled experiment. But once they knew the savings was there, they didn't leave the work on the table.
     
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  12. Rkep01

    Rkep01 Well-Known Member

    The purpose of stropping a razor blade is to straighten and remove any minute irregularities of the shaving edge caused by the act of cutting off all those teeny, tiny hairs that grow out your face (with apologies to Bill Cosby). As such, it doesn't matter if you honed with tape and then stropped without tape as long as you keep the strap relatively taut (don't pull the bloody thing out of the wall), to avoid rolling the edge. One of the worst things you can do, IMO, is to use too much pressure while stropping. To me, that would cause damage to the edge requiring a touch-up hone. Just use light pressure and keep the spine on the strop. I've also read that manufacturers (DOVO, I think) don't recommend stropping before each shave, especially if you only have one or two razors. They recommend that you let the blade rest for a couple of days after shaving to allow the blade to straighten itself out...something about metal memory and that the edge will return, over the course of time, to its original shape. I don't personally know if this is true, but I figure that they know more about their product than I do.
     
  13. thesuperiorshave

    thesuperiorshave Well-Known Member

    Dovo's been pretty well taken to task about that 'let it rest' line, a lot of ppl think it was just a way to sell more razors.
    Knowing all the Germans as I do, I'd suspect on some microscopic and supremely anal level that stropping immediately afterward of regular use removes a tiny bit 'excessive' metal over time, and by resisting this you'd maximize lifespan to the nth decimal.

    But that in the real world that could be like [using an analogy that seems increasingly ineffective here] fighting over the glass of water at the bottom of a glacier. You have to figure professional barbers that only had a few blades were stropping and cleaning and possibly even touch-up honing each blade multiple times each day.

    What I try to do, using soft thin and flexible hides on very well hollowed and flexible razors, is chase a higher pitch sound for any given blade and speed of pass along the strop - if you didn't vary speed or strop or blade and you got some passes to make that pitchy zing better than others, I would presume that the alignment you're creating in those times is doing a better job of extruding all that metal the maximum distance from the spine than the other strokes at the same speed and with the same blade and strop which did not quite achieve that zingy sound. With thicker razors, or strops, this will not work.
     
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  14. gssixgun

    gssixgun At this point in time...

    Supporting Vendor

    "Sounds potentially significant to me"

    Yes, it should, from just looking at your handiwork that you posted, That one simple layer of tape could have potentially eliminated so many of the significant issues we see here in your picture..

    Not sure how you did all that, especially the scratches way up there on the Spine, maybe you should have lifted it off the hone ..
    But you are also showing a developing Frown in the bevel and a Heel Hook. probably from bevel dropping off at the Heel we see
    So yes, in this case, there could be potentially significant improvement by adding a single layer of tape and that .67° of lift to the angle
    Not sure if it would have eliminated the cuts in the face of the blade you caused, that is something you would have to play with and figure out why those are showing up.

    Not sure how you are computing the .18° of decreased Bevel Angle, but it very well could be you are dropping the angle due to the excessive and unnecessary spine wear from your honing.. I would advise you to use tape until you can hone without leaving wear visible on the spine that might show you what your angles are REALLY doing... I would at least take spine measurements before to figure the angle and then after, but honestly, if you are taking away metal on four surfaces, I would have to question your numbers and the accuracy at which you are able to obtain the measurement of .18° for it

    ... Just Sayin

    [​IMG]

    Have fun :p
     
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  15. Steve56

    Steve56 Hone Hoarder

    When I use tape, it’s usually 1 mil Kapton and I leave it on while stropping. It’s very slick and doesn’t create much if any drag on the strop. The reason that I do this is because I test the edge after stropping, and if say, the toe or heel needs a few more licks, I don’t have to re-tape the razor.

    I strop after shaving to ensure that the bevel is clean. A little residue on the bevel would, IMO be far worse for the edge than not letting it ‘rest’
     
  16. DaltonGang

    DaltonGang Ol' Itchy Whiskers

    Good reason to leave it on. Me, I have given up on the Scotch Super 88. It leaves residue, especially if used with oil stones. But a little rubbing alcohol, and it cleans up nicely.
    I now use the "ACE Hardware" brand electrical tape. About as thick as the Super 88, but never leaves residue, and easily peels off. It also has less drag than Super 88, and doesn't wear down as fast. Especially when doing some heavy bevel setting.

    .
     
  17. Leclec13

    Leclec13 Well-Known Member

    i was being cheap and since i rarely if ever tape got the ACE brand also. Good to hear its a decent tape. and that it was not a $1.50 mistake
     
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  18. DaltonGang

    DaltonGang Ol' Itchy Whiskers

    I bought the ACE brand out of curiosity. I also bought a roll of Super 88, in case I didn't like it, because the other roll was almost gone.
     
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