Thread: A rolled edge

Originally Posted by CaliforniaCajun

I have never rolled an edge. It's something I have to believe can't be done unless you really apply a lot of pressure to the blade against the strop . .

Try taking a shave ready razor, strop it and lift the spine while stropping or lift off with the spine up so that the edge flips along the strop while moving..

You will not harm the strop, and you will roll the edge pretty darn easy..


Lifting the spine is pretty easy to do on the away stroke for somebody new to a hanging strop,, Stropping a Full Hollow Singing razor and listening to the laps will find the error PDQ

The other stropping whoops that causes rolled portions of the edge is coming off the side of the strop so that the Bevel rides the edge of the strop, this will often times kick up little tiny leather knicks on the strop and fold the edge of the blade in spots..

I am pointing out errors on leather but doing the same on linen is harder to spot and easier to damage the razor edge

I posted an image of "edge rolling" caused by dulling on glass in this thread:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...ml#post1134924

I have tried stropping with a fair amount of force on a loose strop and could not achieve any damage of this sort.

The one time I rolled the edge while stropping was at the end of a 500 lap speed stropping session (an experiment on the effect of stropping). At 500 I set the razor down edge first into the strop and nearly cut it in half. When I looked at the edge in the SEM, the part of the blade that cut into the leather was rolled.

Finishing stone only. I think there are two primary culprits. The first would be your thumb. Your thumb "drives" the flipping action. Too aggressive and you'll over torque the edge (esp. in combo with the change in motion down the strop). The next is sloppy control as you move down the strop. If the angle changes as you strop there is more likelihood that you'll dull out the edge.

Charging the angle, while not bad, is adding more stress to the edge.

In your stropping you have too much stress on the edge (while many others do not apply enough). Just focus on tightenting the strop, lightening the action, slowing the speed, and maintaining careful angles, with consistency. This should reduce the action on the edge. Then go back to slowly adding action. Stop when the blade edge feels smooth to the skin, stops pulling, and glides comfortably.

Stropping and honing both inflict trauma to the edge of the blade if done carelessly. A razor edge is a delicate thing due to how thin it actually gets during honing. Therefore it should be treated in a delicate manner throughout the sharpening process.

I have found it necessary to develop a very light touch on both the hone and the strop when finishing an edge. The light to no pressure touch has given me best results in the final analysis.

Think about trauma. Whether it is inflicted upon your body or the nice wax finish on your Corvette or to the delicate edge of your razor, trauma will never leave you with the best final result. Trauma is never good. Just ask an ER nurse.