Thread: Newsprint on Glass

You know, now that you say that... Not that you might want to (unless you're camping or on a multi-day tailgate party, but could you strop against a flat styrofoam surface? I bet you there would be some draw.

Remember those pictures of the Grand Canyon? It was all done by water. Put a straight under some running water and in about 1000 years or so you'll have a great edge. Now how many laps would that be? Lets see...

I would wager that the rate of wear to the carbide was more related to the heat generated from the styrofoam over the absariveness of it. Having previous experiance in trades retail I've sold many blades and received many more for resharpening in addition to all that I have personally used. The heat caused from cutting is more damaging to the edge of the teeth than the abrasiveness in most materials.

The newsprint, I imagine, is also generating a fair amount of heat relative to the amount of steel in the razor edge much the same as a linen stop would but in a much smaller scale.

Someone has got to expariment and grade different papers for sharpening- construction, fish paper, tissue, etc....

This could be the ultimate low cost sharpening system

I've used paper for sharpening for years. Paper wheels are used to sharpen knives. Newspaper will cut you like a knife and the abrasives in the processed paper and ink are so fine that they'll polish glass. You can't make a dull razor sharp by backhoning or "stropping" on a newspaper wrapped hone, but you can make a reasonably sharp razor wickedly sharp that way. If you can't effortlessly take hair off your arm, the blade is too far gone for newsprint stropping, in my opinion. If, on the other hand, it will but is an uncomfortable shaver that pulls or stalls, this is very likely to straighten it right up, depending on how far gone it is. It works a lot like a pasted strop - more like 0.025 micron diamond paste than .050, in my opinion (but a little slower, a little more forgiving and a lot less expensive). Lynn reports that too many strokes on the newsprint will cause the razor to shave very, very close, but have a more "prickly" feel when shaving and that could well be because it an edge just a wee bit too keen.

You know, I haven't really used newsprint since I started using my chrome oxide-on-hardwood paddles, but I may have to play with this again.

Did this with a stainless Puma that was already quite sharp off the chrome oxide but had never been quite as sharp as my better carbon-steel razors or my Friodurs. I gave it 100 laps on newsprint last night and it was noticeably sharper this morning, right up there with my Clausses and Sta-Sharps and Heljestrands. Fun stuff, and it's tough to beat the price.

The price is impossible to beat and it fine tunes an edge more effectively and reliably than anything else I've ever used. It can't replace honing, but it can sure take the edge up a notch.

Ok, who's already thinking about the newest stropping craze....they Styrofoam Strop...or STYROSTROP.

I had good results in my office using the paper and my desk but have not done this for several months. I was actually doiong it edge leading (vs stropping motion)

Guess I'll have to try it again very soon

Cheers
Ivo

I used this while I was waiting on my chrome oxide from handamerican but hadn't used it since then, so I was pleased to discover that it improved the chrome oxide edge.