Thread: Stropping a smiling razor?

Originally Posted by 10Pups

I have a tendency to use a windshield wiper motion when stropping a smiler. Maybe a habit from honing them. :<0)

Note : I use a paddle strop.

I do a wind shield wiper type stroke on a hanging strop.

It is kind of a reverse x going from toe to heel. I like it, but it can be a bit awkward at first YMMV. My razor rotation is 100% smilers at this point

Put a little sharpie in the edge of the razor and did a little test to see where it was contacting my strop. Turns out the way I was stropping almost none of the beven was contacting the strop! I long suspected something was lacking in that department but couldn't quite figure out what was going wrong there.

Lowered the tension I was using so the strop could flex some (I thought they were supposed be be fairly tight) and the sharpie started to wear better. I tried the same test with a straight blade, and found a very similar issue. Guess I had just a tiny bit too much tension on the strop. I did notice that x stroke seemed to get the edge a little better, so I'll probably switch to using those for the forsee able future.

I'm dropping the GCW back to 4k to reset the bevel, and working up from there on Welsh slates. Honestly that's probably more than it needed, I would wager a touch up on the Dragon's Tongue would've sufficed, but I did see a little spot I wanted to work out.

Cleaned up the bevel on the Norton 4K, did a touch up with the Dragon's tongue, then Lynn Melynllyn. Made 2 somewhat small adjustments in stropping - less tension by just a tiny bit, and X strokes. Toe leading same as before. I actually used CrOx this time, which is a slight deviation from the norm. I have to say I'm surprised at the difference that little bit of tweaking has made. Shave was very close, and far less irritation than I've had in a long time by a wide margin. Also managed to give myself a little stripe by the right side of my lip. It's been a while since I cut myself. The bar has definitely been raised a bit.

Originally Posted by Marshal

The first couple of shaves were very clean, if a tiny bit harsh. I presumed that was just a pressure problem on my end of things. I checked to be sure the bevel meets properly, I don't see any shiny spots when looking straight down at it. Maybe I'll run it through the hones again tomorrow depending on how things go with the sharpie test.

just as a note, seeing shiny flat spots on the edge are indicative of a VERY dull blade. Even if you don't see flats the bevel may not be set properly, which is where all the other indicative tests come in handy to diagnose.

Originally Posted by Marshal

Cleaned up the bevel on the Norton 4K, did a touch up with the Dragon's tongue, then Lynn Melynllyn. Made 2 somewhat small adjustments in stropping - less tension by just a tiny bit, and X strokes. Toe leading same as before. I actually used CrOx this time, which is a slight deviation from the norm. I have to say I'm surprised at the difference that little bit of tweaking has made. Shave was very close, and far less irritation than I've had in a long time by a wide margin. Also managed to give myself a little stripe by the right side of my lip. It's been a while since I cut myself. The bar has definitely been raised a bit.

Nice!

Sounds like your resolving the problem

While I'm not arguing that a bit less tension is wrong, I suspect your stropping action is not quite right either. If the tension on the strop was the whole problem, paddle strops wouldn't work - and yet many of us use them. You should maybe try torquing the edge just a little while still keeping the spine in contact. I find a heel leading cross stroke works fine on smiling blades - and I have a couple of the extreme Saito blades.

Originally Posted by TwistedOak

just as a note, seeing shiny flat spots on the edge are indicative of a VERY dull blade. Even if you don't see flats the bevel may not be set properly, which is where all the other indicative tests come in handy to diagnose.


Nice!

I saw one spot towards the heel that had been dinged somehow. I don't remember tapping the edge on anything, but it was definitely rolled. No flat/shiny spots. This razor's been a bit of a problem child, but not so long ago I spent a pretty good amount of time with the 1k hone ensuring the bevel was right. Well, calling it a problem child sounds like I'm blaming the razor. The reality is it's my first smiling razor so there was a bit of a learning curve (no pun intended).

Originally Posted by UKRob

While I'm not arguing that a bit less tension is wrong, I suspect your stropping action is not quite right either. If the tension on the strop was the whole problem, paddle strops wouldn't work - and yet many of us use them. You should maybe try torquing the edge just a little while still keeping the spine in contact. I find a heel leading cross stroke works fine on smiling blades - and I have a couple of the extreme Saito blades.

I did add a tiny bit of torque to it as well, but it seems to me the paddle strop is a slightly different animal. It's on a wooden backer that keeps everything flat and even. Too much tension applied to a hanging strop like mine, and the leather will try to curl. I was pulling it as tight as I could without the leather curling to try and mimic the action of a paddle strop. I suspect the leather was still trying to curl under tension, just not enough for me to see.

I noticed in every how-to video I've watched, their strops flex a bit more than mine with their combination of strop tension and pressure/torque applied to the razor. Yet another facet of the hobby that is simple on the surface, but is an art form unto itself it seems. Get the right blend, get a good edge. Get the wrong blend and at best you're having little or no effect on the edge, at worst you've damaged it and need to go back to the hones.

Well, the razor is shaving admirably again. We'll see how long it lasts and if (more) adjustments need to be made.

I too started my stropping with too much tension.
When I started to allow around 1/2" and maybe up to 3/4" droop in my horizontally held strop very nice things started happening.
This was also when I slowed up the pace and started to concentrate on gently turning the razor at the end of the stroke.
Mild pressure, like when honing, does the trick and no torqueing of the blade is needed except very slightly to favor the toe or heel of the razor if needed.

Exactly. There are no hard and fast rules for strop tension - you use what is needed to get the job done. Watch the contact between the edge and the leather just like you watch the edge push water or slurry while honing. Pulling a strop tight with a death grip is akin to mechanically counting strokes while honing without using any other feedback. It's taking what is a fluid, organic process and trying to make it formulaic.

My experience has shown that the linen strop requires correct tension (tightish). Leather side is tensioned in concert with the amount if pressure applied with the razor and I favour a slightly slack strop. I have found that visualising the spine of the razor and concentrating on its passage over the leather will prevent applying too much weight to the edge..