Thread: You can't overstrop, can you?

A question and an introductory thread. The question first:

Is it possible to overstrop your razor? Everyone seems to say something different about how many passes you should make, whether you should use the linen side on a regular basis, etc. As it is, I'm finding that my razor doesn't pass the HHT unless I do a lot of passes - about 10 on the linen and 40 on the leather. I think my stropping technique is okay, and I know the blade is well-honed, as Lynn sharpened it.

The introduction:

I've been really irritated at having to use expensive throwaways for years now, so I started reading about straight razors, and asked for one for Christmas. Finally got my Dovo 5/8 best quality a week and a half ago and I've shaved with it four times now. It takes FOREVER, and I cut myself quite a bit the first couple of times, but it's getting better. And I'm actually looking forward to shaving in the morning now!

I've never been able to overstrop, and I once did over 1000 laps on the linen in one session to see what would happen. As long as you do it correctly the razor just keeps getting sharper.

I don't know about overstropping, but I did find that my razors shave much better with 40 to 50 laps on the leather than they did with 15 or 20.

Dave

I just went from 50/50 (linen/leather) to 50/75 yesterday and I could tell the difference.

here's some reading for you. I'm pretty sure you can't over strop, but the more you strop the more prone you are to making a mistake and rolling the edge (keep focused now)
A while back thebigspendr did an experiment. here's part 1:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/showthread.php?t=4219

there is a phase 2 and a final phase thread as well.

I swear that I read somewhere (don't know if it was here or some other website or what) that an experiment was done (different than bigspendrs) using a microscope and as much scientific data as possible to find out the perfect number of laps when stropping. The results were that 35 laps attains the best edge and after that there is no change. Up until 35 it keeps getting better the more you do. I wish I could remember where this was, but it is why I do 35 laps on plain leather before shaving now. So basically, you can't overstrop from what I've seen/read/experienced (within reason at least!).

Remember the Grand Canyon was formed from running water. If you honed on a strop long enough I can guarantee you can not only overhone but you could wear your razor down to a toothpick. Fortunately for us I don't think anyone is going to hone for a few hundred thousand years or more. I found when I did the experiment that 60 passes gave the best results. More did nothing further. This of course was all practical no microscopes or anything sophisticated like that.