Thread: different sonds on each side of my razor

I find that sometimes my razor has a different sound depending on which side of the razor I strop, is this just my ears playing tricks.on me?

I get this also, but i think mine is just my poor stropping tech being uneven pressure or angle or something in each direction possibly??

Tis the Doppler effect

Ok honestly it is probably the different direction of the grain of the leather, if you get the same difference on your Linen (material) strop then perhaps you are lifting the spine

Maybe both?
My lazy way is to "roll" the razor in my thumb and pointer (not while the edge is on the strop mind you). I notice if I don't really concentrate on the weight distribution of the razor, I get a different sound.
However if I actually reposition the razor (flip) between my thumb and forefinger so that they stay in the same orientation each half stroke then I get a consistent sound. But even then, if you listen hard enough, your mind plays tricks. JMHO.

Does a car sound the same coming as it does going ? Listen to your breath. Is it higher pitch on the way in than the way out ? I think half of what your hearing is the affect of direction. Maybe all of it. :<0)

Thanks glen, I notice it more on fabric than leather.
10pups, I had also considered what you are saying and wondered about that too, but it is almost a different sound rather than a different note.

Does the razor shave better on one side than the other ?
Just thinking with my fingers moving :<0)

You know what I think? Scuse me for piping in as a newbie, but going away you are hearing the top of the razor and coming toward you, you are getting the sound out of like an audio reverby cavity, sort of reflected between the bottom side of the razor and the strop. If you turn the strop so it is running flat across you from right to left, centered on your centerline, and strop, (yeah I know, probably awkward) I bet you hear nearly the same sound either direction. I don't know that dopler effect really comes into the picture at stropping speed but it might.

Anyway we don't strop to make noise, right? We strop to tweak up our edges before shaving. So I for one don't care if my razor hums, whistles, or sings! And if it changes key between the away stroke and the toward me stroke, well, meh. Whatevah as they say.

Originally Posted by 10Pups

Does the razor shave better on one side than the other ?
Just thinking with my fingers moving :<0)

Next time I notice it I will concentrate on how each side feels, I THINK that when I have noticed it more the shave hasn't been as comfy. Are you thinking that the edge of the razor could be of to one side a bit? I am planning to use the same razor that I used last night. I gave it a light refresh, and have stropped it quite a bit after, I noticed that at first the draw felt heavier at the beginning than at the end. I also noticed that the sound evened out more as I stropped.
It was a lot more stropping than I would usually do, it went like this: 50x coarse fabric, 50x smoother fabric, 50x coarser fabric, 50x smoother fabric, 50x roo, 50x smoother fabric, 50x roo.
The coarser fabric is the outside of a piece of stretch denim,
The smoother fabric is the inside of the same piece of fabric,
The roo is a roo leather strop, not a wild kangaroo that I chase around whilst trying to strop my razor.
I will see if all my effort pays off in about 6 hours when I have a shave.