Weak Science

I rarely test my razors beyond a TPT for sharpness, no loupe beyond the first run up the hones from bevel set, no microscope, although they look like a lot of fun. Today I did a TPT on the razor I am going to shave with and it felt a little off near the toe, say the last 1/4 of the edge. I thought about a HHT to check the TPT. And, it confirmed the first test...I know, parlor trick, still...
And what I did next is the reason for my post. I stropped the razor, actually less than normal, 30 and 60. Then I went back to the HHT. You guessed it. The razor popped hair the entire length...
The magic of stropping is well documented. It was pretty cool to face it head on and see the remarkable results. It still kind of mystifies me, but a little less so now.

I like finding those data points as well. To improve this weak science consider checking out www.scienceofsharp.wordpress.com . This guy uses a scanning electron microscope to study the effects putt various sharpening methods. Pretty neat, though tedious reading. ..

Shave test it and pay attention if that part of the edge will degrade as you go. If it does then you are dealing with either a wire edge or the bevel is not quite set there.

I recently bought a loupe after my buddy said that it would help a lot with my edges. The look of the edge is visibly different before and after stropping, hence the results that you get! However, I still like popping hairs just for fun:)

Today is a shave day with little insights. A second one, and not the first time I notice this. I was stropping my SOTD razor prior to shaving. It has a wonderful thumb notch. Truthfully, the thumb notch is awesome to have when shaving but a PITA when stropping. What was confirmed today is that before the shave, stropping was way more difficult than the post shave stropping. Weird? Well, I believe that firing up the motor skills needed to shave (both hands) actually tunes the hands to strop post shave. The razor flips easily post shave on the strop and I fight it the whole time pre shave. Make any sense? To make sense, you have to first have a razor with a thumb notch and second, you have to be a pretty old dude.

I have not noticed that specifically, but I have observed certain times that stropping is MUCH easier than others. There have been times when I have walked away from stropping because I didn't have it at that time:)

In with you on the difficult to strop but awesome to shave with thumb notch thing. I test my edge through out the honing process. I'm finally getting to a point where I can see what the edge needs under the loupe and it is confirmed by hht. Obviously my hht and your hht mean nothing when compared to each other. There are also spots on my arm that are only a few inches apart that behave completely different. What I do know is after stropping a 12k edge I should be popping all hairs. Doesn't mean that shave will be smooth just means I hit my preferred keenness level, then onto shave test.

You know WW,

For an old dude you and I think alike when it comes to honing. Rarely any magnification unless something is very wrong.

I also only use the TPT and when satisfied I double check with a quick HHT. I've calibrated my girlfriends hair and there is never any shortage.

Thanks for sharing in this thread. It's nice to know I'm not alone in a time when magnification is everything. Every other piece of advice is did you check the scratch pattern in your loupe? Haha no... I didn't... I shave with an edge not scratch patterns :p

A good sesh with the strop is a beautiful thing. Can do wonders to the edge, it mystifies me also.

I don't have the knowledge or experience to comment on the facts of what stropping actual does to the edge of a razor. But what I can say is that I know it is an important part of straight shaving.
When I first began straight shaving I had no clue what I was doing, no money for hones, etc. I sharpened my FIL's old Boker on a progression of 1k/2k/2.5k wet or dry sandpaper on plate glass, and followed that up with about 600 passes on a homemade leather strop. The high level of passes on a strop allowed me to shave with that edge for at least 6 months. Were they the most comfy shaves of my life? No, but they beat the snot out of any cartridge shave I ever had.
While I would not recommend it, that experience cemented in my mind the importance of stropping for a straight.
I've since moved on to Suehiro and Norton hones, and a lot less passes on leather, but I'll never forget that lesson.

That's bad ass and you see guys crying about how they can't shave off an 8k... well done.

Those guys say what ? I shaved off 8k Norton for a year before I bought another stone. Best advice I ever took.

I suspect a wire edge too. This is not to take away anything from stropping. I am slowly getting into progressive stropping. Should change my signature to -> Obsessed with stropping :<0)

I only have one strop sadly... but after honing I give the razor about 500 laps easily.

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Originally Posted by S0LITARYS0LDIER

That's bad ass and you see guys crying about how they can't shave off an 8k... well done.

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You should try to hone 1 with 1k and shave off it. Just once though. Personally I would rather hit my thumb with a hammer than do that again.

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Originally Posted by 10Pups

You should try to hone 1 with 1k and shave off it. Just once though. Personally I would rather hit my thumb with a hammer than do that again.

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I have done it and it wasn't that bad off a king 1k. I would take a 1k edge over an over honed wire edge any day of the week except Tuesday.

You found it that bad? What 1k?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by S0LITARYS0LDIER

I have done it and it wasn't that bad off a king 1k. I would take a 1k edge over an over honed wire edge any day of the week except Tuesday.

You found it that bad? What 1k?

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King 1k and let's just say I am too spoiled now :<0) The whole point of doing it was to see if I was setting a proper bevel.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Quixoticshaver

I like finding those data points as well. To improve this weak science consider checking out www.scienceofsharp.wordpress.com . This guy uses a scanning electron microscope to study the effects putt various sharpening methods. Pretty neat, though tedious reading. ..

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A few days ago I started on this and just now finished, including reading all the comments. Thank you.

Everybody should go through the whole thing if you want to have the tools to develop your own process!

For those who missed it in the comments, here's what his process is:

Attachment 222751

EDIT: sorry about size lol. Here's the link, scroll down to the comments. https://scienceofsharp.wordpress.com...emoval-part-1/