Thread: strop/HHT question

so i just did a hanging hair test and for the first time myrazor passed. it shaves nicely regardless. my question is how muchof a difference does stropping actually make, i havent honed my razor yet. is it possibly its more sharp now than when i first got it?

basically what stropping does is re-aligns the edge that would have gotten mis-aligned from the whisker cutting. so when you strop the draw of the strop is the leather pulling the edge back, plus there are some that think (me included) that there is a slight burnishing effect (from heat on the very edge) that might harden the finest part of the edge which makes it harer, and last longer, but this is definitely debatable. a strop without any pastes will take off metal but it is a very small amount, not really sharpening as much as poishing in that instance.

so is it more sharp? i would say not in the honing sense but it is probably more refined, which would be more effective for cutting the hair and smoother on the face, and probably not less sharp.

I find good stropping makes the world of difference.

X

Originally Posted by xman

I find good stropping makes the world of difference.

X

+1. Check out this archived post here. If you want to check out the whole thread it is here and it is very interesting.

+1 on a good stropping. Even after my finest Japanese hone, the strop makes a big difference.