Thread: Light draw vs heavy draw

The draw of a strop affects how much straightening is done during stropping. The heavier the draw, the more straightening pull is put on the microscopic teeth. If you strop a gold sheet you can see the gold move a bit further when using a heavy draw versus a light draw. Now what effect does that have on a harder metal, like a steel razor? Probably none. I've tried different types of strop material on all sorts of blades and I always get a well stropped blade regardless of the draw or material. But I prefer latigo for its sound and feel.

Originally Posted by bluesman7

I've had strops act like that. I think it was in my case caused by waxes warming up and coming to the strop surface. After each use I wiped the strop with a damp towel followed by a vigorous rub with a dry towel to gradually reduce the waxes and oil from the stropping surface.

I tried this out, as suggested, and was surprised at the dye\wax\oil that I pulled off the leather.
I wasn't super aggressive but did give it a good wipe-down prior to towel drying off the strop.

12 hours later this strop is slick as can be

Great suggestion - Thanks!

There are ways to change the draw of most leathers, of course that involves a slight change in the leather's surface.

I was using bovine strops from the begining and i am fond of the heavier draw . Had latigo and natural taned leather , conditioned with a leather conditioner . I like the draw from them .
Lately i buy 2 shell strops - old rusian natural horsehide and a Pelican Nichiri 5700 strop / looks and the sufface is like the Kanoyamastrops / I just can get used to this strops as they are slick and practicaly has very light draws . The edge came ok from them , but maybe because i use linen , latigo and finalythe horse shell strop .
Feels unconfortable and noysy somehow . I dont know i was so exited abbout this new Pelican and i didnt like it much .
Bad luck i guess , maybe the leather on my strop is not good . It has some red shiny coating on it like shellack . that is harder than the normal leather surface

Originally Posted by criswilson10

The draw of a strop affects how much straightening is done during stropping. The heavier the draw, the more straightening pull is put on the microscopic teeth.

Originally Posted by criswilson10

Now what effect does that have on a harder metal, like a steel razor? Probably none.

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Originally Posted by Utopian

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------ confused. Is this true about the draw and the more straightening effect. I read there was no difference just in feel.

Has anyone tried to assign a "grit equivalent" to various strops and linens? My guess is that the "grit" is so high on strop material that it doesn't make much difference.

I doubt strops have any grit rating,I also think people have a misconception about stropping.
Stropping IMO is not for sharpening an already shave ready edge,It is done to realign the edge.

Originally Posted by S0LITARYS0LDIER

------ confused. Is this true about the draw and the more straightening effect. I read there was no difference just in feel.

To see the effect of different draws on steel you would need an electron microscope. The best optical microscope I have access to can magnify up to 3200x and reliably measure down to 50 nanometers. With it you can see the effects of draw on softer materials (gold, silver, platinum, copper), but not on steel. I tried stropping two micron thick steel sheet for 100 laps with heavy draw leather and there was no measureable change in the sheet's dimension, whereas with gold, the sheet would have lengthened about 2 microns in the direction on the stropping (light draw would have been about 1.5 microns).

I have no doubt that the steel is moving, I just don't have easy access to the equipment that can measure the movement and I can't see any movement even at 3200x magnification.

For the non-techy approach:
I have small thin carving knives. Some are made of carbon steel and some are made of stainless steel. For the stainless steel knives I can strop them 10 times on my heavy draw strop to get the keenness that I want, but on my light draw strop it takes about 30 strops. When you have to strop the blade every 15 minutes or so for a few hours you really start to notice the difference in heavy and light draw and the amount of time you spent stropping instead of carving.

Back to razors.
I strop one razor twice a day (once before the shave and once after the shave). If I matched the strop draw to each razor maybe I could knock 30 seconds off my shave time. Is 30 seconds a day worth spending the money on multiple strops with different draws? For me, it is not and so my opinion is that the draw of the strop has no effect on the shave.

Originally Posted by criswilson10

To see the effect of different draws on steel you would need an electron microscope. The best optical microscope I have access to can magnify up to 3200x and reliably measure down to 50 nanometers. With it you can see the effects of draw on softer materials (gold, silver, platinum, copper), but not on steel. I tried stropping two micron thick steel sheet for 100 laps with heavy draw leather and there was no measureable change in the sheet's dimension, whereas with gold, the sheet would have lengthened about 2 microns in the direction on the stropping (light draw would have been about 1.5 microns).

I have no doubt that the steel is moving, I just don't have easy access to the equipment that can measure the movement and I can't see any movement even at 3200x magnification.

For the non-techy approach:
I have small thin carving knives. Some are made of carbon steel and some are made of stainless steel. For the stainless steel knives I can strop them 10 times on my heavy draw strop to get the keenness that I want, but on my light draw strop it takes about 30 strops. When you have to strop the blade every 15 minutes or so for a few hours you really start to notice the difference in heavy and light draw and the amount of time you spent stropping instead of carving.

Back to razors.
I strop one razor twice a day (once before the shave and once after the shave). If I matched the strop draw to each razor maybe I could knock 30 seconds off my shave time. Is 30 seconds a day worth spending the money on multiple strops with different draws? For me, it is not and so my opinion is that the draw of the strop has no effect on the shave.

I do know it makes a difference to strop before and after the shave. I skipped the after once and won't do that again.