Thread: CBN strops.... a thought

Fact or Fiction?: Glass Is a (Supercooled) Liquid - Scientific American

I have an opinion too.
It's partially based on my house with its original 1870 windows.
It's entirely irrelevant regarding Cubic Boron Nitride on strops, glass or otherwise.

So is the SRP rate by the word or post?

Personally I do not hone on my windows, just put in new dual pane windows and door throughout, wow what a difference.

Back to the OP.

I find stropping on Pellon paper fabric best for CBN, use with distilled water mist.

Years ago I was telling my then wife something about Buddhism, and she said I was wrong. We were at my inlaws and they had a set of encyclopedias. So I looked up Buddhism and showed my wife that the encyclopedia agreed with my contention. She told me she didn't care what the encyclopedia said, they were wrong. I knew then I was going to have problems. She didn't disappoint me.

Why I like collecting razors so much better than knives. I used to collect Case pocket knives from the tested, XX and USA eras. (1920-1969) If I got one that was used carrying it wasn't an issue, but having gotten some NOS and subsequently sharpening, carrying and using them, I not only decreased the value by half, but eventually they just didn't look as nice. So to a large extent I became sort of a curator of old NOS knives. Like going to a bakery and looking through the window, but never tasting anything.

Razors OTOH, by their nature can be honed and used remaining beautiful. So I get the best of both worlds. I possess them, admire them, use them. Honing a razor with the intention of getting it to optimum performance is rewarding if you can shave with it and see whether you've achieved your goal. Thumbnail tests, thumbpad or hanging hair are only gauges of sharpness. Actually coming down that jawline, the knob of the chin, are the only way to really know if you're 'there.' IMHO.

Sorry, an amorphous solid is not a liquid. And the OP is the one who took this OT detour, so don't chide others for calling him out. Perhaps he should contact the MIT professor and hash it out with the man. I'm sure he will take kindly to being called out by a former chemistry professor on the subject as a current materials science professor.

Why do people get in arguments over the most ridiculous details?

Who cares if glass is liquid or not, who makes strops on glass anyway?
A piece of leather on a wooden base, or loom type of strop or hanging strop is all that is needed.
There is no need to invent a new wheel, be assured if it was working better it would have been invented already.

@ OP if you are not shaving , then how do you know your edges are good, and how can you tell the CBN is good stuff?
If the honing is proper, you have zero need of stropping compounds.

Originally Posted by DoctorSaul

I got to disagree with you. Even in our house which is just about 25 years old, there is discernible flow and ripple in the glass windows. I've also noticed that church and synagogue stained glass windows show the same rippling effect in windows that are older than a few decades. I've also experienced glass plates, like microscope slides, that if allowed to sit on top of each other for a relatively long (short?) time, like a year or so, they tend to fuse together. I remember rummaging through a bunch of University castoffs that included glass coverslips and microscope slides that were in original boxes from the 1930's. They were completely fused together something like a brick of glass. So, I've seen ample evidence that glass does flow, slowly be it, but still quickly enough to see distinct macro changes in a few decades.... micro changes like was commented on regarding plate glass (see prior post) probably can be seen within months or years of the manufacture of the glass plate.

Sorry to continue the OT, just had to chime in here... as someone with a background in chemistry and currently researching in solid state materials science, I can add to what else has been said here - aside from anecdotes or personal experience, I can tell you the science says that glass will not flow over any kind of human (or even earth-age) timescale. The fusing you speak of can be explained otherwise. This is the reason that 1000+ year old Roman glass artifacts still exist, some in their original fine detail. To get glasses to flow you need to go above the glass-transition temperature.

Guys lets stay on topic here.

Originally Posted by ScienceGuy

Sorry to continue the OT, just had to chime in here... as someone with a background in chemistry and currently researching in solid state materials science, I can add to what else has been said here - aside from anecdotes or personal experience, I can tell you the science says that glass will not flow over any kind of human (or even earth-age) timescale. The fusing you speak of can be explained otherwise. This is the reason that 1000+ year old Roman glass artifacts still exist, some in their original fine detail. To get glasses to flow you need to go above the glass-transition temperature.

OK... I give up (but don't concede defeat...I could further back up my position, but it is off topic). Just as a clue, what do you think is happening when glass is heated to the point it becomes obviously molten and readily flows? Going down in temperature, at what temperature does this phenomena cease? or does it not cease? Keep in mind that you are not dealing with a crystalline material at any stage in the heating or cooling cycle, just an amorphous solid decreasing or increasing in viscosity with temperature.

Your thread. Derail it all you want... Won't help you learn anything about razors tho.