Thread: Over-honing=bad. Over-stropping bad?

I'm dieing. I'm real tight right now from various colliding expenses colliding with recently inflicted DE RAD.

So I'm going to squeeze myself like a turnip and get a strop and a cheap straight edge razor and have it honed by a pro.

Then I'm planning to strop each side 30-50. times a day and hoping it will stay sharp for 2-3 months till I get some more cashola.

If I strop each time like 60 times will that be bad for the straight edge? or just be good, yet diminishing return?

As stropping will not remove any metal, it won't be bad, but it won't do you any good either. 20-30 passes are all you need for stropping the blade. I would not shave with a blade any more than 15 times before a touchup on the hone/pasted paddle strop and I usually touch mine up after about 10.

If you're short on cash, there are several really inexpensive ways to extend the life of an edge. Both posterboard-type cardboard and newspaper can be used as a fine-grit stropping material. Cut a 3" wide strip of the cardboard and tape it down on a flat board or your table or counter and lightly strop the blade on it. You can also use a piece of newspaper, which is slightly finer grit. Both of these can be used spine-leading(stropping motion) or edge-leading (honing motion), though edge-leading works better you've got to be more careful that everything really flat or else you'll munge your edge, so spine-leading is safer because it's harder to mess up.

If you want a little coarser hone, then you can smear a little abrasive paste on the cardboard to good effect.

Are there any free videos that show how to hone? (or strop).

I'm familiar with the 1 on google video. That's where I learned about this place.

thanks for your responses thus far

Not that I'm aware of. Some of the guys here have been known to give lessons via skype though...

I believe there are some animated diagrams in the help files.