Thread: Stropping

Originally Posted by Seraphim

So, is there some slight pressure you are supposed to apply? Or are you just trying to glide the razor along with just the blade weight?

I'm using a TM starter strop and am just trying to glide the razor along it as lightly as I can. Should there be a tiny amount of downward pressure component?

Ok also to Alan +1 but if I was starting out... No pressure would confuse me when stropping or honing. You have to have some pressure to keep a blade flat. It is all about how much though. And the weight of the blade is not a good measure cause it would want to sit unevenly with all the weight on 1 end of the blade and you moving back and forth on a semi flat surface.

You have to apply some pressure to keep the blade down but when I do it I try to apply the majority of my light pressure to the spine as I roll the blade and do laps with it but not the blade as I roll it through my fingers. This is how I do the zero pressure. Lets face it... we are guys. And so pressure to us gets taken as PRESSURE but the truth is that if you are using just the weight of the razor your blade is probably not on the strop flat or you are going to accidentally lift the spine or something like that. I would say that it is all a matter of roughly exact ammounts being estimated in ways that can't quantify that. I would say to try and communicate in the best possible way for something so vague make the strop taught but not tight so it does not cup and can react to the blade and apply JUST the pressure you need to know the spine will stay on the strop and not lift off. You will see the strop deflect slightly when you do. Then roll the razor between your thumb and forefinger back and forth to get it to flip over on the strop. Keep your thumb on the flats of the tang where it meets the blade to get traction and leverage. Also the razor should be in motion before you put the edge down so you never accidentally cut your strop. It is alot to take in at one time but practice and GO SLOW.

Oh and as to the advanced honing... I am not talking that much deflection. I am talking 1/4" in the middle of a strop that is having pressure applied allong its length. Any suspended item like that will have to deflect according to basic physics so that is minor. You can definatly reshape an edge like that and resharpen and edge by playing with the stroping tension and angles and so on but this is basic stuff. I did not mean to open this can of worms.

Originally Posted by The Topher

Ok also to Alan +1 but if I was starting out... No pressure would confuse me when stropping or honing. You have to have some pressure to keep a blade flat. It is all about how much though. And the weight of the blade is not a good measure cause it would want to sit unevenly with all the weight on 1 end of the blade and you moving back and forth on a semi flat surface.

You have to apply some pressure to keep the blade down but when I do it I try to apply the majority of my light pressure to the spine as I roll the blade and do laps with it but not the blade as I roll it through my fingers. This is how I do the zero pressure. Lets face it... we are guys. And so pressure to us gets taken as PRESSURE but the truth is that if you are using just the weight of the razor your blade is probably not on the strop flat or you are going to accidentally lift the spine or something like that. I would say that it is all a matter of roughly exact ammounts being estimated in ways that can't quantify that. I would say to try and communicate in the best possible way for something so vague make the strop taught but not tight so it does not cup and can react to the blade and apply JUST the pressure you need to know the spine will stay on the strop and not lift off. You will see the strop deflect slightly when you do. Then roll the razor between your thumb and forefinger back and forth to get it to flip over on the strop. Keep your thumb on the flats of the tang where it meets the blade to get traction and leverage. Also the razor should be in motion before you put the edge down so you never accidentally cut your strop. It is alot to take in at one time but practice and GO SLOW.

+1 If you keep the pressure on the spine, the pressure transfered to the edge is very light. (the larger the width of the blade, the lower the pressure transfered on the edge) So the effort needed is to keep the spine and the strop surface allways in contact for all the number of strokes without interruption.