Thread: Verhoeven Paper Question

That handles the stropping part. Thanks. So Verhoeven was right that the strop has no or very little abrasive qualities. What a strop does is to remove the weak metal from the edge of the blade there by restoring the actual edge.

Now onto the the other parts.

Originally Posted by singlewedge

That handles the stropping part. Thanks. So Verhoeven was right that the strop has no or very little abrasive qualities. What a strop does is to remove the weak metal from the edge of the blade there by restoring the actual edge.

Now onto the the other parts.

What I focused on in that thread was mparker's post here . This is the post that has influenced my stropping routine since I read it some time ago.

He also was using ashort paddle or bench type strop, if I remember correctly. I think it would have been intereting to see what the difference would be between that, and a full lengtgh hanging strop where some speed is built up on the edge, as opposed to a slow strop on a bench strop.

Originally Posted by Seraphim

He also was using ashort paddle or bench type strop, if I remember correctly. I think it would have been intereting to see what the difference would be between that, and a full lengtgh hanging strop where some speed is built up on the edge, as opposed to a slow strop on a bench strop.

Just re-read the post and I have the impression that he was referencing use of a hanging strop but I may be wrong. I was wrong once before.

He actually stated that he used commercial and paddle strops. He did not mention the word hanging. I would then assume that he was using leather glued to wood. Which is what I think he states was done on preliminary tests.

So what about the other questions?

I have on several occasions experienced that blades improve with stropping. IIRC Verhoeven looked at the blades under the mike. If he does not see any difference that does not mean there isn't a difference. He concludes stropping does not do anything because he sees no change. However we experience a change so that only means there's a difference he can't see with the techniques he used.

I agree with Kees completely. I think every one of us to a shaver would agree there stropping improves edges. Some may argue that stropping possibly only improves edges by removing any rust/oxidation at the edge level and doesn't improve the steel per se. I don't agree. Certainly stropping removes microscopic level rust/oxidation. But I think it's improving the edge. I think it's manipulating the steel. I keep my razors in a very dry environment and dry my razors very well after a shave and don't feel there is significant if any rusting going on at edge level of my razors between shaves. Stropping during shaves improves the edge; barbers have been doing that forever. Is the edge of a razor a barber is using actually rusting during the shave which results in the barber (or anyone else who strops mid-shave) feeling the edge has degraded and needs to be stropped? I think there's more going on there.

Chris L

Originally Posted by Chris L

I agree with Kees completely. I think every one of us to a shaver would agree there stropping improves edges. Some may argue that stropping possibly only improves edges by removing any rust/oxidation at the edge level and doesn't improve the steel per se. I don't agree. Certainly stropping removes microscopic level rust/oxidation. But I think it's improving the edge. I think it's manipulating the steel. I keep my razors in a very dry environment and dry my razors very well after a shave and don't feel there is significant if any rusting going on at edge level of my razors between shaves. Stropping during shaves improves the edge; barbers have been doing that forever. Is the edge of a razor a barber is using actually rusting during the shave which results in the barber (or anyone else who strops mid-shave) feeling the edge has degraded and needs to be stropped? I think there's more going on there.

Chris L

I only know that I can take a razor that doesn't cut hanging hair and do my 50/50 and then it does. Not always but a lot of the time.

Chris, down here in the tropical climate of FLA I have to be extra careful regarding rust. I have been in the midst of honing a razor and taken it over to the microscope and found rust beginning on the bevel that couldn't be seen with the naked eye. Not mine anyway. That is why I always strop a dozen on the horse after the shave and use a rust preventative after that. An ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I only know that I can take a razor that doesn't cut hanging hair and do my 50/50 and then it does. Not always but a lot of the time.

I think it's the linen that's doing the work of sharpening the razor though. You'll notice that he also tested felt strops and they did sharpen the steel. He didn't test linen but I suspect they work similarly to the felt.

What I think the leather does is straighten the edge from the banging it gets on the rough linen. I agree with Verhoeven that the leather doesn't sharpen, though I suspect that after awhile it may get enough oxidized steel embedded in it that it may be abrasive. And it's possible that a heavy-drawing strop may be able to break off the oxide bloom from the edge, though I don't like heavy-drawing strops so I can only speculate wildly here...

Originally Posted by mparker762

I think it's the linen that's doing the work of sharpening the razor though. You'll notice that he also tested felt strops and they did sharpen the steel. He didn't test linen but I suspect they work similarly to the felt.

What I think the leather does is straighten the edge from the banging it gets on the rough linen. I agree with Verhoeven that the leather doesn't sharpen, though I suspect that after awhile it may get enough oxidized steel embedded in it that it may be abrasive. And it's possible that a heavy-drawing strop may be able to break off the oxide bloom from the edge, though I don't like heavy-drawing strops so I can only speculate wildly here...

It's been about a year and a half since I read the article. Did he conclude that plain unpasted wool felt (animal hair) actually sharpened the steel but leather, animal hide did not? Would your suspicion regarding cotton or linen plant fibers having steel sharpening potential be unpasted plain "linen" or pasted with something? That would seem odd to me that a plain unpasted plant fiber or animal hair could sharpen steel but leather could not.

Chris L