Thread: Why the linen strop!!!!

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Hmm, steel and linen, steel and leather. If its untreated its unlikely to realy change the edge however it will through friction heat up the edge and the leather will dress up the edge. Small but very important changes in the edge which translates into big shaving improvements.

I agree. The article is ianaccurate but has the right idea. Your strop will not be sharpening anything, except on on a microscopic levle that doesn't matter.

I think the idea of warming the edge makes sense. Stropping pushes aroung these tiny teeth. Stropping hard on linnen can dmagae them, but stropping enough to warm the edge makes them more flexible, and you better able to push them around with the leather without breaking them.

"Hell, you could probably fart on a razor and waste a few hundred angstroms!"

Heyyyy, you might be onto something there! Reminds me of a contest I was once in...ahem, well, yes I think it's because it causes the coscumboogers to scmeeliate with the squeegums. JMHO, YMMV.

Dr. Tom, Ph.D in Flatulology

Originally Posted by Blade Wielder

Did anyone watch that National Geographic documentary on shaving?

Well, in case you didn't, they explained that to accurately measure the thickness of a razor's sharpened edge, they have to use angstroms. (1 angstrom = 1 / 10,000,000th of a millimeter!) To put that in perspective, they said that a piece of copy paper had thickness of 1,000,000 angstroms. A razor's edge can be as little as 300 angstroms.

I missed that, but I hope I'll see it some day.

My only comment is that we complicate things too much. If you want to see sharpening analysis with electron microscope shots, look at Prof Verhoeven's treatise on sharpening. He also analyzes razors and razor blades. We either have it in the document section your you can find it easily online by searching his last name and "sharpen." Your definition of ansgstrom is off by two orders of magnitude, you should substitute "meter" for millimeter. In the Verhoeven article they measure edge width in microns or millionths of a meter, and the widths, as I recall were in the range of 300 angstrom or .03 microns.

FUD
I can't imagine myself using linen for stropping my wood working tools mainly because I belive linen would hold too much Shop muck in the weave to prove it worthless. Leather is a wipe away from clean all the time.

PuFF

Originally Posted by Joe Lerch

I missed that, but I hope I'll see it some day.

My only comment is that we complicate things too much. If you want to see sharpening analysis with electron microscope shots, look at Prof Verhoeven's treatise on sharpening. He also analyzes razors and razor blades. We either have it in the document section your you can find it easily online by searching his last name and "sharpen." Your definition of ansgstrom is off by two orders of magnitude, you should substitute "meter" for millimeter. In the Verhoeven article they measure edge width in microns or millionths of a meter, and the widths, as I recall were in the range of 300 angstrom or .03 microns.

Joe
You seem to me to be contradicting yourself there

PuFF

Originally Posted by PuFFaH

Joe
You seem to me to be contradicting yourself there

PuFF

I don't think so, the post I was responding to made it seem like there's something mystical here. There isn't, and it's not rocket science. The physical laws that are involved are also pretty simple. If you look there for an explanation, it stays simple. If you explain it by procedures that are not much different from what's being done now and that can't be explained, you might as well wave a magic wand.

I'll take the straight forward approach, and if it doesn't work the first time, continue to use it, but look elsewhere. I refuse to wave my hand and expalin that it's microscopic, so mere mortals can't understand it.

Originally Posted by Joe Lerch

I missed that, but I hope I'll see it some day.

Your definition of ansgstrom is off by two orders of magnitude, you should substitute "meter" for millimeter.

Oh?

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/angstrom

So should I email the people at Dictionary.com, or have you already informed them that they're wrong too?

If I substituted "millimeter" for "meter," I'd also have to substitute "one ten millionth" for "one ten-billionth."

It's not rocket science.

You're absolutely right: it's not rocket science -- it's shaving science.

You said earlier that any sharpening the strop does is on a microscopic level which "doesn't matter." You've got to be kidding.

This isn't "magic wand" stuff no one is able to explain; stropping provides the finishing touches to the blade's edge, which, in addition to the water and all of our scented shaving soaps and creams, makes the shave better. You may not be able to see the changes in the blade with the naked eye, but that doesn't change the fact that there are changes when you draw the edge across the linen and leather sides of a strop.

If, god forbid, you're ever diagnosed with cancer or something, I hope the conversation with your doctor doesn't go something along the lines of:


"Joe, I don't know quite how to tell you this, so I'll just come right out and say it: you've got cancer. Your body's healthy cells are rapidly being destroyed and unless we proceed with treatment immediately, your health will quickly deteriorate."

"But Doctor," Joe says, squinting closely at his outstretched arms, "I don't see any of this cellular damage you're talking about!"

"Of course not, Mr. Lerch -- the damage is microscopic and cannot---"

"Wait-wait-wait, stop right there -- could you please not use the m-word? If I want 'mumbo jumbo' to be annotated on your bill of service, I'll let you know, okay?"

"But..."

"Yeah, yeah -- just tell me about this 'treatment' you're proposing."

"Uhhh... well, using this machine here, we will target the mutating cells with something called radiation waves. Allow me to demontrate."

[The doctor throws a switch and the machine makes a loud sound, causing both men to cover their ears -- *KA-THRACK! THRACK! THRACK! THRACK! THRACK!* After a two or three seconds the doctor turns off the machine.]

"Doctor, I didn't see any radiation at all! Not one god damn wave! I think we're done here."

[Joe stands up and approaches the door before turning back]

"Now will your receptionist be able to validate my parking, or have you delegated that task to your enchanted unicorn?" [Joe mockingly looks around the office for any sign of the mythical creature before scoffing and walking out of sight. Meanwhile, the doctor gives an audible sigh and shakes his head.]

Originally Posted by Blade Wielder

Oh?

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/angstrom

So should I email the people at Dictionary.com, or have you already informed them that they're wrong too?

While I never like to get in the way of a good brawl I'd like to point out that dictionary.com isn't infallible and I've found several definitions that have been outright wrong. Eventually it gets corrected so I'm guessing they have a feedback process.

Ok gentlemen, remember, no crotch shots, no biting. shake hands and come out fighting .

Really? Because I also looked up "infallible" and all they wrote was, "DICTIONARY.COM!" in bold letters.

I'm not trying to be argumentative. I just felt like doing some creative writing.

I have a linen strop for home, and a leather only strop for travel. The linen side gives me a better shaves with wedges then all leather does, but for most blades if I use the rough side of the leather before the stropping side I get a great shave with my travel strop.