Thread: Does the pasted strop really reduce wear?

It seems that using a chrome oxide pasted strop allows me to go about a month between honings. However, when I do finally need to hone, I need to hone a lot to get my bevel back. (About 50 strokes / side on a cushioned strop hone, followed by finer polishing hones). So, is the pasted strop really saving any wear on the razor?

Empirically, the answer is yes. If I don't use the pasted strop at all, I have to give it 5 strokes / side before each shave. That's 150 strokes/month. The pasted strop keeps me at 50 strokes/month, which is 1/3 the wear.

But is it worth it?

Minimalism appeals to me. I'd like my shaving kit to consist of the minimal amount of equipment, devices, and contraptions. How long would it take to notice the ill effects of those extra 100 strokes/month? Will I be dead before then? And is it worth babying $10 razors?

Another wrinkle in the equation is that, for some as yet unknown reason, the first shave after honing is not the best shave. So I might actually be sacrificing shave quality if I gave up the pasted strop. But I'd have to experiment to know for sure, because the last time I was shaving without a pasted strop, I was also making a bunch of mistakes that I've since corrected.

Anyway, what are your thoughts on pasted strops? We've had one heretic so far recommend honing before every shave. Anybody else?

Are you using a regular strop as well? I do not see that you said you were. If not, that is the cause of your need for constant pasted strop or rehoning. A pasted strop is a milder hone. Kind of like using a barer hone every day. You should not need to do this if you have a good strop and technique.

+1 ^

Once a razor is sharp, I don't have to use the pasted strop until 3-4 weeks have gone by if I simply use the plain leather for daily stropping.

A razor that's honed on a stone has a flat bevel. Each time you put it on a pasted strop you are putting a bit more convex in that bevel. Even when that strop is glued to a flat surface, there's a bit that effect (although less), due to the give of the leather. A convex edge is not necessarily a bad thing, as long as the tip of that bevel is small enough to offer good cutting performance. The use of Chromium Oxide for the shaping of that convex edge, leads to a very smooth, very comfortable edge. If that's what works for you, that's fine. The downside is, that convex bevels, by nature of their geometrics, widen quicker when the tip abrades from use than triangular bevels. Hence, convex edges need more frequent touch-ups (that actually are likely to convex them more) than triangular edges, and after enough touch-ups, they reach a point where the convex shape becomes too arced to allow for a small enough tip.
A lot of bevel correction is needed, at that point. (see the attached drawing)

A triangular bevel, that's polished above 8000 grit generally offers comfortable shaves, and, if stropped correctly before each shave, will maintain its level of performance for at least a dozen of shaves. Good shaving practice, proper whisker softening, superior stropping expertise will add significantly to the uptime of a blade. The tip of the bevel will only be widened with a small amount, by the time it calls for a touch-up. A few strokes on the finishing hone and you're back were you started.

To my taste, that is a more minimalistic approach as the use of pasted strops, and I like minimalistic, as much as I like experimentation.

Bart.

Brad:

Of course I use a plain strop. I also have a barbed wire beard. It took much experimentation & plenty of fixed mistakes to get my honing down to once a month. Even so, my beard eats steel & my razors are pretty soft. If I don't use the pasted strop, by the 3rd shave I can feel the deterioration.

Bart:

Yes, that makes perfect sense. That explains why I need to hone so much to get the bevel back. It also explains why the first shave after honing isn't the best one: I don't yet have that nice, polished, slightly convex edge that comes from working it down on the pasted strop. (I think a slightly convex edge might be better for very tough beards)

Yesterday I verified once again that the first shave after honing is not the best. (If my best shave is 100% BBS, that first one is maybe 80% BBS). So maybe I'll keep the pasted strop just because of that. And even with all that honing on the first of every month, it is still saving me 100 strokes/month on the hone.

Most of us feel like the first couple of shaves of the hone are pretty tough.

Originally Posted by Johnny J

(I think a slightly convex edge might be better for very tough beards)

You might be right about that. The outer edge of a convex bevel is backed up by more metal, so it might be a bit more sturdy. BUT, and this is purely speculative, there could be other forces at work here too. Chromium Oxide, in the way you use it, leaves a very fine edge. Now, let's compare that to a coarser edge, lets say, one that has a partial 4000 grit scratch left here and there and a lot of 8000 grit scratches, preferably smoothed a bit out by yet some finer abrasive, but NOT polished into oblivion. Such an edge consists out of microscopical peaks and valleys (the peaks are rounded by the final polish, but not gone). The countless valleys is where the razor is at its sharpest, and that's where it severs hairs. The peaks are there to sustain the foil thin valleys. My speculation is, that, although they definitely need smoothing, if you remove the peaks completely, there's nothing to keep that foil thin edge from crumbling away, and bending over from the forces from your fierce whiskers. I think that's where Lynn's pyramids lend part of their strength and I also think that's why those seasoned honers often state "less is more". But like I said, I can't be sure about that. As we speak, I 'm looking for an inexpensive (incomplete) 7 day set, to conduct some experiments to test that theory (and others). The idea is to hone 4 or 5 razors that are theoretically equal to each other (hence the 7 day set), put differently honed edges on them, and let a befriended straight shaver do "blind" testing (to rule out the "wishful thinking" factor and the "self fulfilling prophecy"-effect, which I find a common problem with assessing the finer nuances in the shaveworthiness of a given edge) Then my friend would reset the blades, hone them with the same variations, in a randomized order (to rule out differences between the blades) and hand them back to me for "blind" testing. After that, we would compare notes and device further experiments. It's always nice to reinvent the wheel, isn't it?

Originally Posted by Johnny J

Yesterday I verified once again that the first shave after honing is not the best. (If my best shave is 100% BBS, that first one is maybe 80% BBS). So maybe I'll keep the pasted strop just because of that. And even with all that honing on the first of every month, it is still saving me 100 strokes/month on the hone.

Whatever works for you, is the way to go. There are many ways that lead to a great edge. Some methods eat more steel than others, but if that's alright with you, by all means, don't let a guy like me that thinks there is another way leading to Rome (even for the coarse bearded among us) stop you from doing something you like and that obviously works pretty well for you.
For me straight razor shaving is something I like very much.
The quest for truly understanding a razor's edge is yet another thing I like very much.

That's why I like these threads that invite us to really think about it so much.
Thanks,

Bart.

That would be a fine experiment. At times I've wished I could shave 10 times in 1 day so I could try out different theories. As it is, my experiments are so spread out in time that they're hopelessly mixed up with other uncontrolled factors, like improvements in my technique & the raising of my standards, that have occurred over the same time period. So I'm never 100% sure that my conclusions are accurate. A shave that I thought was smooth 6 months ago, I now think is crap, so that technique that I thought was worth re-visiting, isn't. Or conversely, I begin to wonder if a honing method that failed in the past failed because it was no good, or because I was using too much pressure on the blade at the time. All these variables make it damnably hard to pin down what you have to do to get a consistently perfect shave. And the advice we give each other is tainted by the fact that no two faces are the same. I had a buddy Sam who used to get a whole month out of a disposable multi-blade cartridge. Back when I was using them, I used to eat them in 3 days. And let's not even get started on the variety of hones out there. Right now I'm using Tilly's 3-hone set. If I were using, say Shapton ceramic/glass hones, who knows how that might affect my results.