Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 19
Like Tree3Likes

Thread: Why Strop after honing if razor is shaving?

  1. #1
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Posts
    178
    Thanked: 2

    Default Why Strop after honing if razor is shaving?

    Still very much a newb, but it hit me tonight after honing on my Norton 4K/8K. Stropping is more for maintenance, as basic as this sounds, correct? Again, great forum!-Gearhead

  2. #2
    At this point in time... gssixgun's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    North Idaho Redoubt
    Posts
    26,948
    Thanked: 13221
    Blog Entries
    1

    Default

    You don't have to, in fact it is a good test of honing to try a shave without stropping... then after you try it change it up and test again after honing
    try stropping linen and leather, try stropping just leather

    Basically try it all then go with what works better for you...
    Last edited by gssixgun; 03-15-2013 at 02:20 PM.

  3. #3
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Posts
    178
    Thanked: 2

    Default

    Thanx Gssixgun! Again, really enjoyed the honing video with you and Speedster!-Gearhead

  4. #4
    Plausibly implausible carlmaloschneider's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Mount Torrens, South Australia
    Posts
    5,979
    Thanked: 485

    Default

    You should do an experiment. You should hone, strop and shave, and then once in a while try shaving without stropping after honing. I found the actual feel really very different. I was going to say it was harsher, but I think that's the wrong term; it was more raw, but not unpleasantly so. I think on my skin it felt more like that very first time I shaved with a straight. I think your skin changes; toughens up after a while; and shaving after honing without stropping sort of emulates that feeling for me.

    Carl
    Stranger, if you passing meet me and desire to speak to me, why should you not speak to me? And why should I not speak to you?
    Walt Whitman

  5. #5
    < Banned User >
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    Chicago
    Posts
    186
    Thanked: 26

    Default

    There's supposedly also a cleaning component to stropping--getting off skin crud, helping dry the edge.

  6. #6
    Senior Member blabbermouth JimmyHAD's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    32,564
    Thanked: 11042

    Default

    30 years ago I asked 70 year old barber, who had 50 years in the biz, that question. "Straightens the edge." was his reply. Once when I was speaking with Lynn about honing on the phone he pointed out that the very edge of a full hollow is not much thicker than a piece of tin foil. I thought of what Frank had told me years before. No idea if it is accurate but if the edge is that thin seems like it might be.

    I do know from HHT results that my razors are more likely to pass after stropping than before. The 1961 barber manual excerpt on honing and stropping, in the SRP library shaving related help files, recommends barbers always strop the razor before shaving a customer. Maybe I'm just not curious enough but I've never done a straight razor shave without stropping first.

    Finally, suppose you tried using a straight razor without stropping and found out you didn't need it at all ? You'd be depriving yourself of having beautiful pieces of leather and linen hanging in the shave den. You couldn't grab them and rub your palm over them caressing them. Enjoy the anticipation of the next shave as you stropped your freshly honed blade on some luxurious shell that was once a part of a horse's buttock. I love stropping and strops. YMMV.

  7. #7
    Senior Member tiddle's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Oxford, Al
    Posts
    1,605
    Thanked: 407

    Default

    I agree with Carl here on the first time feeling without it. The stropping seems to add a hint of smoothness for me, which I prefer over just sharp as you can humanly get it. All falls to what floats yer boat.
    Mastering implies there is nothing more for you to learn of something... I prefer proficient enough to not totally screw it up.

  8. #8
    I used Nakayamas for my house mainaman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    Des Moines
    Posts
    8,664
    Thanked: 2591
    Blog Entries
    1

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by gearhead222 View Post
    Still very much a newb, but it hit me tonight after honing on my Norton 4K/8K. Stropping is more for maintenance, as basic as this sounds, correct? Again, great forum!-Gearhead
    If you have a chance to try and edge finished on a higher grit stone or a natural you will see the benefit of stropping. The edge will feel more refined the higher on the grit scale you go, but a stropped edge will top all of them. Stropped edge just feels smoother to the cheek than unstropped one.
    JimmyHAD likes this.
    Stefan

  9. #9
    < Banned User >
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    Chicago
    Posts
    186
    Thanked: 26

    Default

    One thing I have noticed is that the first time out an edge doesn't hold its sharpness through the shave quite as well as successively with the same sharpening but after a stropping or two. In violin making we use scrapers with knife-sharpened, very fine edges turned with a burnisher to have a slight hook (done correctly, this is barely visible and doesn't make the edge ragged; wrong, the way a lot of home woodworkers do it, and it destroys the metal at the edge and give a ragged result.) As it's used, one repeatedly straightens out and re-turns the edge hook. The first couple of times it doesn't hold the hook too well, but with successive turns it maintains much better, is sharper because it's stiffer, and long lasting. It even feels different as you turn it with the burnisher. I sense the same experience and changes over time as I'm using my razors.

    Work hardening - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    I'm pretty sure this type of work hardening is what's happening both with scrapers, and with the slight bending back and forth of the tip of the edge that a strop probably does. I haven't seen work hardening mentioned at all with regard to razor steel.
    fuzzychops likes this.

  10. #10
    At this point in time... gssixgun's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    North Idaho Redoubt
    Posts
    26,948
    Thanked: 13221
    Blog Entries
    1

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by mdarnton View Post
    One thing I have noticed is that the first time out an edge doesn't hold its sharpness through the shave quite as well as successively with the same sharpening but after a stropping or two. In violin making we use scrapers with knife-sharpened, very fine edges turned with a burnisher to have a slight hook (done correctly, this is barely visible and doesn't make the edge ragged; wrong, the way a lot of home woodworkers do it, and it destroys the metal at the edge and give a ragged result.) As it's used, one repeatedly straightens out and re-turns the edge hook. The first couple of times it doesn't hold the hook too well, but with successive turns it maintains much better, is sharper because it's stiffer, and long lasting. It even feels different as you turn it with the burnisher. I sense the same experience and changes over time as I'm using my razors.

    Work hardening - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    I'm pretty sure this type of work hardening is what's happening both with scrapers, and with the slight bending back and forth of the tip of the edge that a strop probably does. I haven't seen work hardening mentioned at all with regard to razor steel.
    We normally call that "Overhoned" when it comes to Straight Razors.

    It is a rather catchall term around here, but basically refers to taking the edge too far, and creating an "burr" (edge hook) or a fagile harsh edge
    Last edited by gssixgun; 03-15-2013 at 03:24 PM.

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •