Thread: Stropping a wedge?

Originally Posted by BeBerlin

Warning, wild speculation ahead.

A hollow grind forms a triangle strop-spine-edge. A true wedge would lie flat on a strop which is pulled taut. Would it not therefore make sense to allow for a limited amount of slack in the strop?

Yeah, I see your point. A hanging strop would give that slack anyway as far as I can see though and, I suspect (without any data whatsoever to back up my suspicion), that a paddle would too. Actually,thinking about it, wouldn't the bevel on a true wedge, assuming the spine hadn't been taped during honing, be consistent with the entire blade and so it wouldn't be issue. Equally, I have yet to see a genuinely true wedge. You've made my brain explode a little here, Robin, it's too early on a Sunday morning for this.

Stropping is stropping and you strop all razors the same be it a hollow, wedge or Japanese. A wedge makes no sound as you strop. That's just the way it is.

I strop everything the same.
Also, I never strive to keep the strop incredibly taut. There's tension there, but it's not rigid tight. I never have any problems, & I'm very happy with the edges.

Stropping, & indeed shaving with a wedge, can be slightly disconcerting at first if you're used to hollows.

I strop everything the same, but then I have a slight amount of sag in the strop anyway, say 2-3mm.

I never hold the strop drumskin tight. Apart from the fact it hurts my arm I find I get better results with a small amount of sag.

Strops sag slightly as you use them, and you'd only start to round the edge off if you used loads of sag and loads of pressure. Certainly I've never had any adverse effects from having that small amount of sag there, and I'me very happy with the edges I'm getting.

Sorry to hijack the thread a little, but here's a question: If you hone with tape, should you strop with tape?

Moreover, if there's one layer of tape, can you strop without tape? What about 2 layers? How many layers of tape -in honing- means that you'll need tape when stropping? Is there a fairly agreed upon number, or is it guesswork?

Originally Posted by ShavedZombie

Sorry to hijack the thread a little, but here's a question: If you hone with tape, should you strop with tape?

Moreover, if there's one layer of tape, can you strop without tape? What about 2 layers? How many layers of tape -in honing- means that you'll need tape when stropping? Is there a fairly agreed upon number, or is it guesswork?

No, if you hone with tape you do not need to strop with tape. Just strop it the same as any other razor. When you touch up the razor on a hone, then you need to use the same amount of tape as before, but that's a different matter.

As for wedges vs. hollows and stropping - no difference there either. Just strop like you normally would. Like most of the others who have posted, I don't make the strop super tight, I don't force the razor into the strop, etc., etc. It should be taut and let the weight of the razor hold it flat against the strop.

As to Robin's idea of allowing extra slack for a wedge: I think your idea of "taut" is really tight! Taut is when it doesn't sag without a razor on it, and gives about an inch when the razor is stropped. Even if the strop is taut it will give some slack and you'll get that "triangle" you were talking about when honing a wedge, albeit a smaller "triangle."

The real difference is the feedback and/or sound you get. It's silent and it's weird at first. Just wait 'til you shave with it!

iphone post.
no tape when honing, no tape with stropping.
tape on spine changes edge angle and creates a multibevel edge.
therefore it would be better to strop with tape also, to have the angles the same when stropping as when honing

regards

Originally Posted by jojingo

tape on spine changes edge angle and creates a multibevel edge.
therefore it would be better to strop with tape also, to have the angles the same when stropping as when honing

I hope you take this in the right spirit, as no offence is meant, but I think that may be worrying about it all too much.

Firstly, it doesn't necessarily create "multibevels". If you create a bevel with tape & progress right through with the same amount of tape, then there's only one bevel.

Secondly, it just doesn't make enough difference to require a tape honed razor to be taped when stropping.

Tape does cause the bevel to edge relationship to alter over time, but unless you're honing on a weekly basis, I don't think you'll notice much during your lifetime.

Originally Posted by Stubear

I strop everything the same, but then I have a slight amount of sag in the strop anyway, say 2-3mm.

That's exactly how I use the strop mate.