Continuing Edge Pro Adventure
It is time for another *UPDATE*!
While I wait for some strops that I ordered, I decided to make my own.
1. I made 6 aluminum blanks using 2 old IKEA racks.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-A...614_180303.jpg
2. I cut the remaining leather I had left from an old weight lifting belt. After marking out the shape using the blank as a template.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-w...614_180314.jpg
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-3...614_180333.jpg
3. My wife glued the leather onto the blank using a glue called Glossy Accents.
4. I clamped the leather and blank in my bench vise for about 1.5 hours to let the glue cure.
5. After I removed the completed strop from the vise I sanded the strop on 1200 grit paper to get a level surface.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-o...614_195900.jpg
The homemade leather strop works like a champ! Right now the leather is "raw" after I sanded it down. I am considering putting some leather conditioner on it this evening when I get home.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-s...616_120534.jpg
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-t...616_120542.jpg
The 2 magnets that I put on my EP to a fine job of holding the razor in place. I still hold the razor when I use the EP but the magnets sure do help.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-s...616_120612.jpg
The more tinkering I do on my Edge Pro, the more enjoyable the shaves are becoming.
I have some Chromium Oxide (0.5micron) and diamond spray (0.25micron) to play with as well.
m-
Strops for the Edge Pro and Angle Cube
*UPDATE*
The angle cube... Where to start. This little box will make my sharpening take much longer than what it takes now. This is simply because of fine adjustments needed to get the hundredths position set correctly. So here are some observations from my sharpening this evening.
Strops lined up:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-5...625_210049.jpg
1. The stop collar technique will work nicely with hard stones and tapes.
2 The stop collar will not work with strops due to compression. I was concerned about this and sure enough it was validated.
3. Getting the angle set correctly to the hundredths is a test in patience.
As seen in the pictures, I was able to get 20.25 degrees (relative to the EP table) on each strop and polish tape. Here was my progression for this evening. All strokes were trailing edge:
@ 20.25 degrees
Blue tape
10 strokes stabilizer to point
10 strokes point to stablizer
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-1...625_211535.jpg
@ 20.25 degrees
Balsa strop with chom-ox
10 strokes stabilizer to point
10 strokes point to stablizer
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-g...625_211941.jpg
@ 20.25 degrees
Bark leather strop with 0.25 diamond spray
10 strokes stabilizer to point
10 strokes point to stabilizer
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-C...625_212315.jpg
@ 20.25 degrees
Homemade leather strop sanded with 1.2k grit and leather conditioner
10 strokes stabilizer to point
10 strokes point to stabilizer
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-J...625_213840.jpg
After going the progression and trying the hanging hair test, the cut felt smoother. I will test shave with it tomorrow and see how it goes.