Thread: Maybe heresy, maybe just old news - finishing w/ stropping strokes

Generally speaking the biggest flaws would be uneven honing pressure, not being able to keep the razor flat or having a stroke that leaves part of the blade with less honing action than other spots. In general: inconsistency in the various aspects of honing.

Changing to a different stroke (like making circles) may remove some of the symptoms in that case.
However, the magic is not in making circles, but in the fact that the circles make you lose one kind of inconsistency.

The Japanese sword makers always use a two motion stroke that is edge forward then back. The finishing strokes are stropping strokes. This is the way I sharpen knives, but not with my razors. I think it can't hurt to finish with a few, very light touch stropping strokes, but I don't think it improves much upon a properly honed edge leading stroke.

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

...Although no one likes to admit it, most variances in technique, that produce sudden results, do so because of a large fundamental flaw in skill. There are some very obvious honing technique flaws in which spine leading strokes are the remedy. It can be just as beneficial to remove the flaws. lll

Al, I think your point is solid. I agree. As I write, I'm still pondering the various ways this is true w/ my honing. I suspect the converse is also true - that the inconsistency has a cause that most likely is technique also. Whatever remediation is needed for the uneven bevel with edge leading method - would need some counterpart w/ a spine-leading method.

I certainly wouldn't suggest stropping strokes as a silver bullet, holy grail. It was pure experiment for me w/ some nice results (for whatever reason). I was surprised, and will retain it as one more arrow in the quiver.
.
Edit to add: Gents, I appreciate your kind help w/ getting some perspective here. Saying more would only repeat that appreciation. Thanks to each of you.

if the edge leading and spine leading strokes are both leading with the heel, you would get a cross hatched scratch pattern (sorta).. just a thought.

I've been trying to incorporate back honing/stropping as part of my usual stroke. At the end of each pass the razor does a little circular, pigtail, type motion essentially meaning there a small percentage of back honing in every lap. I think I've seen Glen and Sham mention it in videos.

As has already been covered above when I can dramatically improve an edge using stropping motions on anything I tend to assume I need to work more on the honing stage.

Can a decent bevel be set by using solely stropping motions on a 1k synthetic or dmt?

There are several methods that produce a significant amount of consistency when honing. That said, there is always that occasional razor that gives us fits when trying to hone it. I have found that things like back honing, the use of TI white paste, the use of red paste, news papers and even an infrequently used hone may just be the difference for that occasional razor. You many try one or all of these and more and they may work or not. When they do, it's a good thing. The important thing is to have them in your arsenal and recognize when you are having problems early so that you don't eat up a razor on the hones. Always keep in mind that what works for one person may work differently for the next guy. It can be much tougher when learning how to hone because so many people these days look for great results right out of the blocks. At the end of the day, if something sounds like it's up your alley, give it a try and it may just work great for you and you is all that matters.

There is a lot less heresy than what is depicted elsewhere......... You have to try new things to learn new things.

I believe that when the bevel is set correctly, it is harder not to finish with a good result so long as you are using the lightest of pressure from your 8K to finish. I believe this because it works for me.

Have fun.

Forwards, backwards, sideways, use whatever stroke gets you there.

A bit of an update. Another half dozen blades and some re-finishing/touch-ups.

I continue to brew on the stropping strokes providing correction for inconsistency in my regular strokes. Al, Your input is very much appreciated.

On the assumption that no pressure is good for normal 8k+ normal strokes, I'd do no pressure strokes in he stropping direction. Minimal improvement. A few strokes with up to medium (I would guess 1 lb - mostly in a torsional manner towards the edge) pressure, then about the same amount w/ no pressure - seem to more consistently produce the bump in sharpness. I've tried on most grinds except full wedges. The process seems much less sensitive to pressure, and especially for the two wavy blades I tried. Got wave? strop stroke w/ pressure. Happy shave.

This eve on a Wacker hollow, the same technique was followed w/ the normal result. HHT results at .4" from point of hold were now happening at at least .75" from poh. (YHairMV ) The HHT results remained in place after the normal strokes - so at least for these strokes, they were good enough not to undo the gains made from the stropping stroke. This was all done on a y/g thuri. Similar improvements have been obtained from Cotis and a N-asagi.

'Not writing this to suggest it works for anyone else, or that I'm particularly good at this, but for anyone else that tries it and has some luck w/ it.