Thread: Pictures

Does it look to you like the strop actually scratched the edge?

There are horizontal lines going along the edge but stropping is done vertically so I thought those lines were an anomaly in the image caused by the lens ?

I think that red dot is blood btw.

Maybe it's something to do with oil from the strop.

Alright Gentlemen, let's take a sort of 'Pepsi Challenge' here shall we? Pictures below, you tell me which of these below you think would make a good shaving scratch pattern. After a week or so, I'll post back with what stone gave what pattern and whether I've ever been able to shave adequately off that stone. The point is to see if we can determine whether a stone will give a good shave based only the scratch pattern it leaves. As distinct from 'sharpening to the edge' etc....

The metal is a piece of 01 quenched hardened to about RC65. This is a flat square allowing me to get a good closeup without losing focus because of angle like you have with an edge.

Number 1



Number 2



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Number 8

Originally Posted by jgjgjg

Alright Gentlemen, let's take a sort of 'Pepsi Challenge' here shall we? Pictures below, you tell me which of these below you think would make a good shaving scratch pattern. After a week or so, I'll post back with what stone gave what pattern and whether I've ever been able to shave adequately off that stone. The point is to see if we can determine whether a stone will give a good shave based only the scratch pattern it leaves. As distinct from 'sharpening to the edge' etc....

Nope, all stones need to sharpen the edge regardless of scratch pattern & then the strop decides even further how good the shave is.

Really think you're missing forest for the trees if scratch pattern is your focus.

Originally Posted by onimaru55

Nope, all stones need to sharpen the edge regardless of scratch pattern & then the strop decides even further how good the shave is.

Really think you're missing forest for the trees if scratch pattern is your focus.

An interesting rhetorical slip sideways there in the middle! Agreed: any abrasive to be considered a sharpening abrasive must be able to remove metal and thereby 'sharpen' the edge. But that's not what we're asking, right? What we're essentially asking is "having sharpened the edge, is the never-to-be-eliminated sawtooth pattern sufficiently fine to slice the hair, or is it coarse enough that it either pulls the hair exclusively, or does some combination of tearing/pulling/slicing?"

Shouldn't the answer to that question depend significantly (but not exclusively) on the fineness or coarseness of the scratch pattern?

Actually, would you disagree that there are really only two factors? Those being: 1) is the sawtooth (scratch) pattern 'fine' enough and 2) are the teeth 'straight' when viewing the razor cross-sectionally? 1) is the stone 2) is the strop.

Originally Posted by jgjgjg

An interesting rhetorical slip sideways there in the middle! Agreed: any abrasive to be considered a sharpening abrasive must be able to remove metal and thereby 'sharpen' the edge. But that's not what we're asking, right? What we're essentially asking is "having sharpened the edge, is the never-to-be-eliminated sawtooth pattern sufficiently fine to slice the hair, or is it coarse enough that it either pulls the hair exclusively, or does some combination of tearing/pulling/slicing?"

Shouldn't the answer to that question depend significantly (but not exclusively) on the fineness or coarseness of the scratch pattern?

Actually, would you disagree that there are really only two factors? Those being: 1) is the sawtooth (scratch) pattern 'fine' enough and 2) are the teeth 'straight' when viewing the razor cross-sectionally? 1) is the stone 2) is the strop.

Nope, you're basing everything on a misconception. Saws have teeth, razors don't.

A razor's edge is simply a wavy line that needs to be a certain width to slip between the hair cuticle.
Which stone you have the skill to achieve that width with is largely irrelevant.

WONDER PHOTOS REVEAL UNSUSPECTED FACTS ABOUT Razor Blades and Shaving (Oct, 1931) | Modern Mechanix

+1 to Oz's contention. When I got into this in '07 the buzz on the forums was that you had to 'remove the previous scratch pattern' as you progressed through the stones. End up with a simonized bevel before you were 'there.'

So I bought pro honed razors, some factory, some custom. Honed by the best around at that time. Got 'em and checked the bevel with a 30x eye loupe, and a 40x microscope. Plenty of scratch pattern quite visible.

So from then on I just focused on learning to make a razor shave ready, and I ignore the scratch pattern. This has worked well for me, and judging by the reports I've gotten from guys who've bought razors I've honed, it works for them too.

OTOH, if you enjoy pushing the envelope and finding out what the results will be, as Lynn would say ...... Have fun ....... that is what it is about anyway. Nice photos BTW.

Oz, that is SUCH a cool find!

Originally Posted by jgjgjg

Oz, that is SUCH a cool find!

Here is an old thread, from '08, with a lot of discussion on that article, and the precepts espoused ......... http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...g-article.html