Thread: Why do we still use a clean leather strop?

Originally Posted by Hirlau

'Why do we still use a clean leather strop?"

I have this thing for clean , smooth leather.

I think we should contact the moderator about this post!

Originally Posted by krisbowe

pictures showing no change in the blade on clean leather versus noticable change with CrOX, why do we stay with the conventional clean strop? is it the ritual?

So, here's an exercise for you: hone, then strop normally for a week or two, no chrome. Then put your razor back on the hone and take just a couple of strokes, and take a look with a magnifier. Is the hone hitting the whole bevel, or just the heel part of it? I'm betting it's just hitting the heel. If you didn't use chrome, just the strop, what changed the angle of the bevel?

I'm not real impressed with most of the scope photos I see. People act as if they are magic and can see everything that's happening. They don't see rounding of the bevel, they don't see angle changes; they only see the scratches that are lit in a way that they're visible. Watching what progressively happens and moving the light around a lot, as you hone tells you a whole lot more about what's going on than one snapshot view can.

This is the Verhoeven paper, one should probably read it and learn quite a bit about edges..

There is another study about Stropping with micrographs and some compelling evidence about what stropping does, it is on here in the Stropping forum a few times, IIRC it was a Scientific America article..

You have opinions from, It does nothing, to it rounds the bevel, obviously it can't do both, same as the guys that say Pasted strops Round the bevel, and create a harsh fragile edge again it can't do both...

I would suggest you take the time to test out the theories and decide for yourself, I came up with the conclusion after about 80 shaves and extreme abuse to the edge that it really didn't make a difference ...

http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...eriment-2.html

Originally Posted by gssixgun

This is the Verhoeven paper, one should probably read it and learn quite a bit about edges..

Not sure if this is one of the threads you're talking about Glen but it has a link the the aforementioned Scientific American article and a lot of interesting info from members.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...g-article.html

I confess I'm not scientifically minded. I use a 30x eye loupe to check edges when honing but have never done so once the edge is finished, unless I run into problems later.

I strop and shave, continue with that until the edge needs to be touched up. So far this has been working quite well and I haven't noticed a degrading of the edge forward of the heel with any frequency. Obviously YMMV.

I can't tell you how many times a new guy has brought a recently honed razor claiming that it won't shave, and demending a re-hone. The first thing I always do is take it to the strop, both linen and leather-- nine times out of ten, the edge is brought back to a shave ready state. Anectdotal evidence? Sure, but it has me convinced.

Thanks to all for the replies.
My main driver was to stimulate discussion nad better understand if everyone is using a strop (w/o paste) and more importantly why. I am a huge fan of empirical evidence and would really like to understand what exactly a lether strop does to the edge of a razor. I get that cloth removes any residual metal "shavings" left over from honing, but what exactly does leather do to the edge?

I am goign to follow Lynn's advice and try both without stropping and with.

Am interested to know if any memeber has any pictures of a razor edge before stropping and after under a microscope??

I always test shave straight off the hone. It keeps me in touch with what I've done. Then I strop every shave after. It makes the shave smoother. I don't have a microscope or even a fancy eye loop. I have no idea what my edge looks like, or any of the edges I've gotten on shave ready razors. I can tell you I continue to strop for my own comfort. It may be all in my head, who knows. It is part of my shave ritual, which I enjoy, it brings a little Zen to my day. :-)

Call me crazy but I have found that the strop is the magic that makes a razor go smooth on the face. I also believe there is no such thing as too much stropping. Why the linen ? Because it takes all the tuff molecules and gets em in line with the others. The leather finishes by making sure their little toes are in a perfect straight line. Then they are ready to march across my face, smoothly. It's all about molecules.

Your Crazy!

Originally Posted by 10Pups

Call me crazy but I have found that the strop is the magic that makes a razor go smooth on the face. I also believe there is no such thing as too much stropping. Why the linen ? Because it takes all the tuff molecules and gets em in line with the others. The leather finishes by making sure their little toes are in a perfect straight line. Then they are ready to march across my face, smoothly. It's all about molecules.

LOL!! Awesome!!