Thread: Is over stropping possible?

Originally Posted by FranfC

>>>snip The risk is as you stop continuously and tire the threat of making a bad stroke due to fatigued is increased and I know from experience that it only takes a small mistake to set the edge back.

Being wore out and arthritic in starting SR shaving this was a concern and I did make lots of mistakes. Concentration and focus needed a bit of work too. LOL!! Now I'm not doing too bad. I do the usual 20/60 linen/leather before and 10/20 after. The long practice sessions have helped me develop that feel and sound when everything seems just right.

I'm still perfecting my shaving technique and do not want to needless butcher my self in those couple areas that are taking so long to get down. I have very sensitive wrinkled skin and a coarse beard.

Great feedback everyone.

Only if you make a rounded edge. I've seen people strop 40-60 times. I've seen some strop 100 times & it didn't hurt.

Funny but 70 year old (at the time) barber, doing it 50 years, told me very seriously, with somber face, "You can overstrop a razor." That was in 1984 or so. I played around with straights for a time back then but gave up shaving with them and only collected stub tails. Twenty five years later I began seriously pursuing this sport and found that Frank was apparently in error.

I've never been a marathon stropper. For a time I routinely did 50/50 on linen and leather. Now I'm down to 30/30 and 20 leather only following the shave. That said, I've seen guys enthusiastic about stropping do a progression from the cloth component to latigo, to horsehide ....... or whatever ..... of hundreds of round trips. They seem to feel this enhances their shaves, and they probably have forearms like Popeye.

I know of one celebrated honemeister who has begun to have repetitive stress problems in hands, elbows, and wrists from overuse, and he is not a marathon stropper as the aforementioned guys. Anyway ....... if you really want to know if you can overstrop a razor it is really simple AFAIC. Take a couple of different families of razors, Solingen, Sheffield, USA. Full hollow, quarter hollow and wedge.

Get a microscope and go to town on your strops. Examine the edges every 50 - 100 round trips. Are they deteriorating visibly ? Micro chipping, or wearing in some visible manner ? I would think for the average amount that we strop razors, assuming good technique, there is no perceptible wear, but I'm not sure.

I need to get a stronger magnifier. I do not see very well any more. My 40x and 100x are not showing me what I need to see. I got a 400x USB but it is so grainy. I'll work on my USB setup. I've seen photos from USB magnifiers here way clearer than what I'm getting.

Thanks again for your replies.

I think practically speaking the answer would be no. But as far as I know no one has ever taken a razor out to say 1000, 2000 laps and lived to tell the tale. Probably the only way to do tests to failure would be to make a stropping machine of some kind.

But it really is hard to see how you could ruin an edge with proper stropping - it's not like you are bending the metal back and forth when you strop, for example, and causing fatigue.

James.

I'll improve my magnified viewing and post if I find something.

I don't think I'll get up to thousands of laps but I'm just now comfortably getting up to couple hundred laps. I've had both shoulders rebuilt a couple times and I have found stropping is good for them. I'm starting to strop with my left hand to help balance and increase coordination for left handed shaving. My primary concern is heat build up. I know burnishing cue sticks with leather can get them too hot and warp the wood. Been there done that. LOL!

I agree with Jimbo
I don't think you can ruin an edge, even if you did 200 or more laps on it! Once it achieves the sharpest it can get, it can't get any better or worse by stropping in the correct way!

Originally Posted by jmercer

I'll improve my magnified viewing and post if I find something.

I don't think I'll get up to thousands of laps but I'm just now comfortably getting up to couple hundred laps. I've had both shoulders rebuilt a couple times and I have found stropping is good for them. I'm starting to strop with my left hand to help balance and increase coordination for left handed shaving. My primary concern is heat build up. I know burnishing cue sticks with leather can get them too hot and warp the wood. Been there done that. LOL!

There was talk about that on SRP maybe 5 years ago. I took full hollows and did 50 linen, 50 leather, and held the edge to the side of my face ........ I didn't feel any warmth whatsoever. IIRC a piece of high carbon has to be in the 400 + degree range before there is any risk of compromising the temper.

Originally Posted by Jimbo

I think practically speaking the answer would be no. But as far as I know no one has ever taken a razor out to say 1000, 2000 laps and lived to tell the tale. Probably the only way to do tests to failure would be to make a stropping machine of some kind.

But it really is hard to see how you could ruin an edge with proper stropping - it's not like you are bending the metal back and forth when you strop, for example, and causing fatigue.

James.

+1... I agree with James. I routinely will take a blade that feels a tad 'tuggy' after multiple shaves, and my first go-to action is to strop it on leather about 150-200 laps. It always seems to work for me, as far as bringing back the edge. If not the blade will go back to the hones.

I did an experiment once where I didn't use my Robert Williams razor for 10 days, yet I stropped 200 laps on it everyone of those 10 days. I shaved with it on the 11th day and it shaved fine, however the razor was no sharper than it was under my usual stropping regimen, which is 60 laps prior to shaving. So I would say that you can't overhone a razor unless maybe you were devoting just an insane amount of time trying to.