Thread: Now That is Smooth

I don't strop fast even though I've been str8 razor shaving for 7 years and have been lucky enough not to cut my strops to shreds. Shoot, I don't have to be in a hurry any more....I'm retired!

That is one of the benefits to being....well, lets not say old, lets say mature.
I am 64, retired, and find that being in a hurry is somewhat of a struggle for me and doesn't often benefit me.
Its like the hare and the turtle racing type of thing.

I first taught myself to strop I concentrated on how to flip the razor with my fingers rather than using the wrist.
Then I concentrated on timing the flip at the end of the stroke making sure that the edge of the razor didn't hit the leather until the reverse stroke was in motion.
Then I was able to pick up considerable speed equaling or exceeding the speed of the folks doing the stropping videos.
Then I practiced that for about a year and then sprung for a new Tony Miller English Bridle leather strop.
That is a really good strop but after awhile I was so good at stropping that I could do it very well without even having to concentrate on the stropping.
All went well for a few months and then it happened. I don't remember if it was not enough am coffee, mind got totally distracted, a loud abrupt noise, whatever.
A big nick!
In the following months another smaller but obvious nick or two.
All the while I was making improvements in my honing and I started using a microscope after each stage of preparing the razor for shaving and discovered that a perfect looking edge off the hones didn't necessarily look so perfect after stropping.
Some razors were effected more than others.
I concluded that over time I was achieving much better edges but in doing so they had become more fragile.
I considered how much droop I was allowing on the strop and how fast I was flipping the razor and realized that if the steel at the edge was at all brittle my speed was contributing to chipping.
I considered that the leather, or whatever the strop material, offered a tiny bit of cushion to the flip.
I began to realize that possibly that the very sharp and delicate edge that I had learned to produce was not always capable of standing up to the fast and furious stropping technique I had been using.
When I began to take into consideration how delicate the edge was I realized a considerable improvement in the effectiveness of my stropping.
Dealing with brittle metal is another issue entirely.
Basically resolving that issue involves honing away the brittle metal until you reach the good stuff.
Good luck to you all.