Thread: I'm Resting a Razor

Perhaps resting the steel will enhance its indefatigability. Anyway, we're running out of stuff to test here, we're getting bored, and we need something to do.

Originally Posted by ace

Perhaps resting the steel will enhance its indefatigability. Anyway, we're running out of stuff to test here, we're getting bored, and we need something to do.

You want something to do? Try honing your razor blindfolded. That should keep you at task for a while.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

You want something to do? Try honing your razor blindfolded. That should keep you at task for a while.

I'm sure that can be done. Now, shaving blindfolded, now there's a feat!

I'm through my second shave. I think the mind misses stropping before the blade does.

Nelson~ you've concluded that stropping is unneccessary? Are you shaving daily or consistently giving the blade a day or two off?

[QUOTE=AFDavis11;742316]I'm through my second shave. I think the mind misses stropping before the blade does.

You're dead right there. I can't do it. I've tried to quit stropping, but I can't pull it off. I've appealed to my higher power, sought assistance from other "recovering stropaholics", made amends to my face, but if I don't strop for a day, then I just go on a stropping binge, do all my razors, and then the wife finds me in the kitchen madly stropping away on her kitchen knives, cackling shrilly, and with a manic look in my eye. Now she won't allow me to have coffee whilst stropping, is starting to hide her knives, and isn't allowing me in the kitchen anymore. All I have left to work on is this little plastic knife for picnics. Hmmmm, I wonder if I can strop an edge on this bad boy?

So you're saying this whole resting thing is a sham!?

How else am I supposed to convince my wife that I need more than one razor? Oh no, it's started. There's no going back for me. Must have more razors.

I don't think it's a sham at all. In theory, if you rest a blade infinitely, it will never get dull. Shaving with a sharp edge is the worst possible thing to do to it, aside from dropping it on the bathroom floor, smacking the blade into the faucet, or dropping it into the toilet.

It is also a little known fact that taping the spine during honing cancels out detrimental vibrations created by the edge scraping along the stone. The tape cushions the effect of the stone on the blade, much like a shock absorber on an automobile, and counters any molecular upset that might be created by honing. That same molecular upset is created during shaving, but the effect is greater when the blade is passed over the much more abrasive stones.

You can explain all that to the wife and gain a reason for having more blades. You can stop explaining when you see her eyes glaze over. Using big words helps too.

One of the things that fascinated me when I was a youngster was watching the barber strop his razor when I would be sitting waiting my turn for a haircut. I do recall seeing my barber at the time, Tom Coppeto, strop in the midst of a shave. I assume the edge wasn't quite 'there'.

The 1961 barber manual excerpt on honing and stropping instructs to never shave without stropping first. I bought a strop, matter of fact I bought maybe 15 of them, like any normal person. I like stropping. It is a ritual that gives me pleasure. I don't overdo it but after honing, before shaving I always strop.

Here is an interesting thread, called "Interesting Article" that AFDavis11 posted back in '08. Within that thread mparker762 postulates that oxidation, unseen by the naked eye, may begin to degrade the edge. Stropping removes this oxidation. There is no question in my mind that stropping improves the edge and will remain a part of my shave routine.

Some of us are 'if it is working don't fix it guys' while others, like AFDavis11, are always curious, pushing the envelope to discover how and why 'it' works. That is a good thing since nothing new would come down the pike were it not for those analytical minds and the discoveries they make. Good luck with the experiment Alan, however the results turn out, but one way or the other I'll still be enjoying my stropping.

Try giving the blade some creatine as part of the post shave. That might help it to recover better while it rests.

Holy cow! I know I'm a newbie and my stropping is still slow and the thought of honing my own razors is something that I hope I can do someday. You guys have taken this straight razor thing to a whole new level. Wow!