Thread: Folding the edge...

Fully agree about the pressor for sure,but paddle strops as a rule are pretty rigid and they work fine.

That photo should be in our Wiki.

Great picture and great information.

Roger

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Fully agree about the pressor for sure,but paddle strops as a rule are pretty rigid and they work fine.

And loom strops with adjustable tension too. I wonder why?

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

And loom strops with adjustable tension too. I wonder why?

My point is,How Ridged the stropping surface is, be it a hanger or a paddle or a loom means nothing.
The amount of pressure applied means everything

Actually a lot of the older paddles were 'cushioned' or had cutaways for a bit of give in the surface.
IMHO, a fence paling with leather glued to it is not the ideal design.

Originally Posted by onimaru55

Actually a lot of the older paddles were 'cushioned' or had cutaways for a bit of give in the surface.
IMHO, a fence paling with leather glued to it is not the ideal design.

I only have one paddle strop, a modern design, and I've never considered it appropriate to use as a basis for conclusions. It is molded directly to the wood, but somehow still manages to flex against the edge.

I do know that, historically, the hanging strop was invented to accommodate the full hollow razor. Prior to that stropping was thought to be optimized for the wedge blade on the paddle. I would guess a full hollow couldn't take the pressure. I think it would be interesting to see if the hanging strop could maintain an edge for a longer period of time than a paddle. I seem to remember Arthur Boon writing about it. But, he didn't say why the hanging strop was used for full hollow razors.

Now, clearly, if you hold a strop rigid tight and use pressure, the slightest mistake, heck even without a mistake, will fold the edge, effectively ruining it. If you hold the strop rigid tight and use no pressure, you'll only strop the bevel, not the edge. There is no need to strop the bevel.

This statement does not make sense. The razor is honed (creating the edge) on a piece of stone that is flat and without "give." How is it possible that putting it on a taut, flat strop will touch the bevel but not the edge?

I was thinking about this as I was stropping this morning. I challenge anyone to pull their strop so tight that even just the weight of the razor lying on it does not cause the leather to deflect at all. Trying to do so will likely remove whatever your strop is anchored to before you stop deflection. Simply put, I think it would be better to stress the less pressure aspect than stern warnings about not holding the strop too tightly as too loosely is more likely to cause issues. I started with my strop lying on a table. You just can't get any more rigid than that!

Gentlemen,

Both Glen's and Alan's thoughts on stropping are profound and indispensable. And I agree with both on their conclusions. Such thoughts sent me searching for what I consider a masterpiece of stropping: the great barber Liam Finnegan stropping. Here is the link. Gentlemen, this is art:

Razor Strop - YouTube