Thread: keeping the blade sharp

Originally Posted by metulburr

i didnt mean i am a noob at looking at the edge, i meant i am a noob at using a microscope and looking at the edge. I know those tricks already. There is no blunting, wire edge, etc. to re-elaborate: There razor is completely sharp and a good shave when i get it off the hone, but after a few shaves later is not regardless of stropping. My question was whether the strop was needed to be cleaned.

Well if that is the case, why not try cleaning the strop and see for yourself if it makes a difference? I have been using the same strop for about 3 years now and have not cleaned the English linen component but have cleaned the leather component with a little saddle soap.

Can't help with using a microscope to look at the edge as I have never used one. I would agree with an earlier poster that you see far more with a microscope but after a certain point what you are seeing makes no difference to the shave. A case of making mountains out of mole hills. My personal experience is that if an edge looks good under 10X-30X magnification it will shave well after stropping a few times.

You could also try a touch up on a Crox pasted strop when the edge does start to fall off and see if that helps.

Some razors hold an edge longer than others for some reason. Possible that one is one of those that doesn't hold an edge long.

Bob

i was thinking in cleaning meaning using sand paper. But i know once i do that there is no going back. If its ruined it ruined afterwords. Thats why i was asking on here.

To be honest for some reason i never really thought of just saddle soap. Wont saddle soap dry it out in the long run? Should neatsfoot oil be added to treat the leather after saddle soap?

I haven't managed to hurt any of my leather with saddle soap, so there's that. Maybe if you subject it to many cleanings without ever giving it a small drink of oil to replace what you've displaced.

I used 600 grit sand paper to smooth the surface and get rid of the ridges in mine but that really isn't necessary. The sand paper just speeds up the break in, and shold probably not be done if the strop is decently broken in already.

So an update on this....
I seem to have better quality shaves from just the strop alone. Im actually not sure the last time i honed it. But it was at least 2 months ago. I cant really pinpoint exactly the issue as i fixed a few different things.

1) I started using a cloth strop after shaving to clean the razor
2) I lubricated the strop with neatsfoot oil and noticed the strop became much more softer
3) I noticed the strop might be curling. So i account for it by moving the razor every so often to make sure it gets each position of the edge on that part of the curl.
4) I got lazy on honing. So instead of 50 passes, i might of done 25.

Maybe it was a little of each, or one, not sure, but i seem to always have a straight edge now after stropping. Thanks to everyone for the pointers.