Thread: Identifying a convex bevel caused by extensive pasted stropping

Originally Posted by Lynn

Hmmmmmmm.............

OK, Your way is the best!!

Happy Now.........

Ps, I am not against HHT's except when new guys who read all about them take an oiled razor and try the HHT as their measure of sharpness and proclaim a razor dull.

In any case, every time I try an HHT, I still end up seeing how the razor shaves. Sometimes, in my experience, the HHT works and the shave is not good. Sometimes, the HHT fails and the shave is great.

Have fun

Hmmmmm.....if you read my post my point is that no ones way is the best way except for them. That includes me and you. The rest of your post I whole heartedly agree with. My 2¢ and YMMV and all.

There ya go and you even got the last word in.......

Dang, I messed that up......

OK one more from you........

Originally Posted by Steel

Hmmmmm.....if you read my post my point is that no ones way is the best way except for them. That includes me and you. The rest of your post I whole heartedly agree with. My 2¢ and YMMV and all.

Hahahaha. Word.

For the last couple of years I have pasted daily on CBN 20-30 laps and shaved straight off the CBN, no leather with a very smooth crisp edge. I do this with a rotation, shaving with the same razor for a week or two, then a new different razor.

A few years ago I too did the pasted stropping daily test with CBN and with a MAAS pasted strop for a year with the same results, same razor. A years’ worth of great shave.

Recently in another thread, AFDavis commented on polishing a bevel by stropping as opposed to automatically completely re honing the bevel.

After thinking about his comments, it is not unusual to find pristine razors well over a hundred years old that clearly were shaved with but there is no or a very light (one honing) bevel on the spine. I doubt they were taped, they were maintained with stropping, stropping paste were common in the early 1900’s

There is no doubt by me that a razor can be maintained indefinitely with paste and possibly with plain leather.

I also wonder about the “Convex Theory”, and if what really happened is someone lifted the spine while stropping and called it Convex. Kind of like over honing…

I have found it best to stay old-school. Hone and strop. some CroOx. I shaved off some pastes for several years. Shaves are much nicer without them, IMO

I have wondered before ( and am starting to believe) that a lot of the hone wear on older razors is actually pasted strop wear!
They had a plethoria of pastes back then! I often wonder if this is not why the edge does not follow the spine in some!

I love the thread. Good arguments are healthy; we are passionate folks. I'm looking at the SEM pictures from a different perspective. I see the edges, and I'm not impressed. They look torn. Why would anyone want to shave with it?

You've confirmed my distaste for honing compounds.

I'm pretty certain that a strop alone is pretty effective. What does that look like after a month of only stropping. I'm sure that a strop and an abrasive provides a greater cutting edge faster, but I'm not sure that it produces a better one.

We are forced sometimes to surmise what the best shaving edge would look like. To me, that ain't it.

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

I'm looking at the SEM pictures from a different perspective. I see the edges, and I'm not impressed. They look torn. Why would anyone want to shave with it?

You are absolutely correct, the images linked to this thread are all terrible shaving edges. I selected them to show what physically happens to the edge when stropping with an abrasive loaded strop, not as examples of good shaving edges. Maybe this helps to explain why it is so difficult to consistently achieve great edges with abrasive strops, but probably not...

I can assure you there is a strong correlation between the appearance of an edge at 50kx magnification and the shaving performance; Unfortunately, I am at a loss as to how to share that knowledge.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

For the last couple of years I have pasted daily on CBN 20-30 laps and shaved straight off the CBN, no leather with a very smooth crisp edge. I do this with a rotation, shaving with the same razor for a week or two, then a new different razor.

A few years ago I too did the pasted stropping daily test with CBN and with a MAAS pasted strop for a year with the same results, same razor. A years’ worth of great shave.

Recently in another thread, AFDavis commented on polishing a bevel by stropping as opposed to automatically completely re honing the bevel.

After thinking about his comments, it is not unusual to find pristine razors well over a hundred years old that clearly were shaved with but there is no or a very light (one honing) bevel on the spine. I doubt they were taped, they were maintained with stropping, stropping paste were common in the early 1900’s

There is no doubt by me that a razor can be maintained indefinitely with paste and possibly with plain leather.

I also wonder about the “Convex Theory”, and if what really happened is someone lifted the spine while stropping and called it Convex. Kind of like over honing…

+1 to this. You may be able to keep a razor going indefinitely with plain leather. I'm not opposed to that at all. What an interesting concept. I have been stropping daily now on balsa with FeOx and I get smooth comfortable BBS shaves that I'm happy with. What more could I ask for without falling down a rabbit hole?

I feel compelled to add my two cents on the subject. I actually studied how to sharpen tools as an apprentice cabinetmaker in Norway some 40 years ago. We had classes in theory and had to grind all our tools and hone them to "shaving" condition. I sharpen wood working hand tools and carving tools almost every day. I own every contraption to sharpen tools that you can imagine. I'm a bit OCD on sharp tools.

Things that affect the blades ability to perform as required included the shape of the bevel, the degree of polish and the angle. Qualities of the steel, not just hardness, were also addressed. A knife edge, an axe edge can be extremely sharp but require some amount of curve or secondary bevel. This allows more control, as a flat edge will act as a wedge and dig deeper into the material your cutting. A woodworking chisel must be completely flat, a wood carving chisel must have some roundness to it so it does not dig. IMO a bit of secondary bevel is not a bad thing as long as the actual bevel does not become to obtuse. This can happen if using abrasive pastes on a hanging strop, but that is more an effect of technique. If you strop with your razor at 90 degrees, then the natural flex of the strop will round the edge. Stropping at an angle closer to 30 degrees will reduce the effect and keep the edge flatter. If no strop is used a micro bevel can be achieved buy applying some thin tape on the back edge of the razor. In effect, it's the same thing you will get by stropping correctly.

To confirm theory with practice I have used one razor, every day, for the last year. It was freshly honed on Japanese water stones before I started. After every shave I strop it on pasted linen for twenty strokes or so (i don't alway count, sometimes I just sing a song) then I strop on plain leather for 30 to 40 strokes. Using the angle technique described I see no evidence of "over stropping" as described on these pages. My Razor passes every test I have seen on these pages and shaves great. That said, I can do the same thing on a hone if I wish. I think it takes more skill and is a hassle, but if that works, enjoy