Thread: Another Stropping Observation

I've come to the conclusion ,after years of research and billions of dollars spent, --or is it just a couple of months and the price of admission? -- anyway that when stropping, I can employ better technique and get better results if I unfold my razor to about 200 deg. with 180 deg. being the razor unfolded so that the blade is inline with the handle.
Just an observation.


Justin

Justin,

That's an interesting observation, thanks for passing it along. I have a queston: do the scales get in your way as you flip the razor for the opposite pass? I guess they wouldn't since they would always be on the underside of your hand. Can you hypothosize (sp?) why your technique and results improve using this method? I'd be interested in that.

Also, don't come to too many conclusions too quickly, If you do, your federal funding may get cut off. Then how would you make a living

Originally Posted by steve

Justin,

That's an interesting observation, thanks for passing it along. I have a queston: do the scales get in your way as you flip the razor for the opposite pass? I guess they wouldn't since they would always be on the underside of your hand. Can you hypothosize (sp?) why your technique and results improve using this method? I'd be interested in that.

Also, don't come to too many conclusions too quickly, If you do, your federal funding may get cut off. Then how would you make a living

I'm not sure yet Steve. Let me think about it and do some test runs. It might be do to my own idiosyncracies ---and might even change with a different razor and strop setup. But I think about 2 months ago, I remember someone saying that he had better luck honing with the razor in this position. Maybe it's a balance thing. Later,


Justin

I have used the same technique -- opening the scales past 180deg. For me, having the scales inline with the tang/tail allowed me to sometimes catch the scales with the heel of my hand, and twist (pull off) the razor from the strop (bad for stropping).

I also find flipping the razor over easier since the scales are opened further away from my hand, wrist, & lower forearm.

Originally Posted by xChris

I have used the same technique -- opening the scales past 180deg. For me, having the scales inline with the tang/tail allowed me to sometimes catch the scales with the heel of my hand, and twist (pull off) the razor from the strop (bad for stropping).

I also find flipping the razor over easier since the scales are opened further away from my hand, wrist, & lower forearm.

Fascinating, I'll think I'll give this a go and see. I never really thought about this before.

I'm in the 200 degree camp too. I don't know if it's actually that much, but it's just a hair past straight open. It makes the whole process easier... not sure why, but it is.

Originally Posted by steve

Justin,
Can you hypothosize (sp?) why your technique and results improve using this method?

If I may venture a guess, I would imagine that opening to 200 degrees shifts the balance from somewhere along the center of the blade to somewhere along the spine, allowing one to apply lighter pressure on the blade...
Of course, this is the theorizing of a complete newbie, who has yet to strop a razor as he does not yet possess one…
A razor, that is. The strop and Norton and a little soap and cream arrived today.

Michael

Michael, you beat me to the punch, but I was thinking the same thing.

If you consider looking down the spine of the blade the axial direction, then opening the blade past 180, or below it for that matter, produces a slight moment (twisting force) along the axial axis. If the angle is greater than 180 degrees, then the effect further down the blade is to reduce torque applied to hold the razor to the strop. The opposite is true for an angle <180 degrees.

This effect is very obvious if you open the blade a good deal. Try opening it to 90 and then stropping. This effect, especially with heavy scales, will really twist the razor in your grip. In fact, at this angle, you also have the rotational inertia of the scale mass to deal with, so upon the beginning of the stroke, the blade will tend to come completely off the leather if the initial pressure is low. At +/- 20 degrees from 180 degrees, this second effect is inconsequential.

- John

Like everything else each must find his own way. I keep the razor 180 out from the handle while stropping.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Like everything else each must find his own way. I keep the razor 180 out from the handle while stropping.

that's true. I just enjoy hearing about how people come to the decisions they do.