Thread: Shaving without Stropping.

I would say it's also the steel. All my razors are 'old', Filly's, Puma's and a Le Grelot 1/4 (the most 'modern' razor that I have). Anything I have owned previously that was a newer razor (e.g. a Dovo, a TI, to name a couple) wouldn't take an edge for very long. It would be smooth at first, but required a LOT of stropping on pastes and a plain strop to get shaving when compared to the older steel razors... Just a thought.

I like the shave straight of the hone, but I don't really know why.

Gentlemen,
In addition to the benefits of stropping after honing noted here, stropping also completes the honing ritual. At least for me, anyway. As every element of wet shaving with the straight razor has its own colorful and often indispensable ritual, not stropping after honing is like walking around with only one sock.

After decades of refinement even DE manufacturers finish with a stropping of leather or similar synthetic material. No matter what the finishing stone may be, leather stropping will improve upon it with a higher level of smoothness and sharpness. It is still a mystery as to exactly how it does this and what is happening at the microscopic level when we strop. Several theories have been proposed on this forum. However, I offer what I think is as good as any of the other theories.

Leather stropping provides microscopic CONVEX microbevel shaping and alignment along the entire edge. The slightest flex in the leather is actually beneficial, creating the coveted convex microbevel shape that Japanese sword makers discovered hundreds of years ago. This is why I prefer a hanging strop over a paddle. This is not rolling the edge, which can occur with too much pressure; rather, at the microscopic level a polishing effect creates it. My experience places the optimal number of laps at between 100-200, depending on the steel, to achieve this effect. Of course, this is only a theory, but I think it is as good as any others that I have read. Here is an illustration that you may need to zoom up to see the stropping effect in red.

Originally Posted by Gammaray

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Hmmmm. Triangles. Very nice.

I wasn't really thinking about saying anything about stropping, as i said in my post that stropping cannot be replaced or left out. (I don't actually care)

I have a theory about stropping i've been thinking about: Metal/steel as we all know is a ductile, kind of mold-able substance. Even at a Rockwell hardness of 60 steel is still somewhat ductile on the microscopic level. Imagine looking at whats going on up close, the friction created from from leather (an ideal surface for creating friction on a flat surface) while you strop the friction would draw (almost like smoothing clay with a knife) the metal across the hone scratches and along the very tip of the edge making it more uniform and "smooth". Leather seems to be so ideal because it creates a lot of friction but at the same time provides a uniform surface.

Well that's my two cents about stropping.

Nathaniel

Edit: this would also explain why softer steeled razors would accept the benefits of stropping a little fast. I heard that some people have observed that.