Thread: As usual..I'm confused

10 shaves ago, I had touched up my razor with my Norton 8k. I've been counting and analyzing each shave since then and each shave from 1 to 8 got progressively better. Shave 9 was not good. Right from the start, I could tell by using the thumb pad test that the razor was no longer keen (even after my normal stropping).

I had thought I'd need to go back to the Norton for 5 or 6 strokes to refresh the edge. Instead, I decided to play. I stropped perhaps 60-65 times on both linen and leather. The thumbpad test revealed an edge that felt as keen as it did on shave #1.

So, shaving tonight confirmed the thumb pad test results. I would say shave #10 (tonight) was the best shave out of the 10.

What I'm confused about is why this happened? Without a lot of science and treatises, can anyone help me figure out why an additional 60 strokes on a strop seemed to "re-keen" my edge. I understand that stropping doesn't sharpen an edge but it seemed to in this case.

Mind you, I am in no way complaining. I just want to try and understand more so I can be a more knoweldgeable shaver.

Could have been as simple as a few bad strokes, small lapse in concentration or something as seemingly as inocuous that might have rolled your edge a little.

I know I've done similar from time to time.

Originally Posted by Lancer

Could have been as simple as a few bad strokes, small lapse in concentration or something as seemingly as inocuous that might have rolled your edge a little.

I know I've done similar from time to time.

What he said!!

Could be you slipped a bit when stropping, but it could also have really dulled a bit. Both leather and linen are somewhat abrasive, especially the linen. 65 laps on the linen is quite a lot, and could have been enough to restore the edge.

Linen and leather are very mild abrasives. If you use them long enough they will act as hones!

Like water can erode rocks in the long run!

I can't tell you why it happens, but the's no doubt that a good round of stropping is good for your edge. The early edge, or one that has just been honed can sometimes be finicky. A little while back there was a thread on the possible effects of heat stressing on the fins/teeth/striations of the edge. We never came up with a conclusion on any of it, but I often wondr if this has something to do with how the razor's edge changes or preogresses in its response to the strop. Then again, it may have more to do with the wearing down of the edge. If you come up with an experiment that would help us determine what's going on, be sure to share it.

X

Thanks everyone for the responses and ideas. I knew that the linen would act as a mild abrasive but I didn't think it would return the edge back to shave-ready. I guess I must have had a mild case of dull edge and caught it in time.

The encouraging part is that I don't have to return to the hone prematurely and I learned a little more about edge maintenance.