Hi guys,
I'm new to straight razor shaving but found stropping my razor very relaxing and will even strop on days I don't shave. Will this excessive stropping cause any damage to my razor? Thanks.
Printable View
Hi guys,
I'm new to straight razor shaving but found stropping my razor very relaxing and will even strop on days I don't shave. Will this excessive stropping cause any damage to my razor? Thanks.
I'm be no means the "saltiest" member on here, but as long as your technique is good (not too much slack in strop, not too much pressure, not banging your edge on the roll) it shouldn't hurt. If your technique is good I'd say your just refining the edge.
I'm sure the more seasoned shavers will chime in shortly and give you a answer with more experience/wisdom behind it.
Jer
Im not that guy ether but like what was said, i bet it wouldnt hurt if your stropping correctly. I do think there is a limit to the refinement your going to be getting. My bezt guess is after 150 or 200 passes your not gaining anything. But thats my unexperianced guess.Quote:
Originally Posted by MedicineMan
You can strop all you want on plain leather without worry. The problem is if your hand becomes fatigued and your hand slips.
My name is Shaun and I am an excessive stropper.
I often strop a lot, more than many but not as much as a few.
There is no harm is stropping WELL on leather. There are those that claim their stropping improves a fresh honed edge, and I am with that thought train.
You can trash a perfectly good edge in just a few strokes stropping poorly though.
If that is your Zen time then by all means strop away and look for the answers.
I feel like if it were possible to strop too much, I would've just hit that mark. I was actually kind of trying to over-do it just so I could see what this mysterious overworked edge feels like. 20 some odd laps on .50 micron Chrome Oxide, .25 micron CBN, and I lost count of how many on .1 micron FeOx and all I got out of it was a smooth shave. If I couldn't intentionally hurt anything with moderately skilled stropping on a pasted strop, you're going to have an awful hard time hurting anything on an un-pasted piece of leather provided your stropping is as good as or better than mine. And that's a pretty low bar to be honest, stropping isn't my strong suit.
In my limited experience, and advice from a couple "old timers", if done properly you can't strop too much. Like RezDog, I strop to the near extreme. No less than 200 before each shave. After honing, no less that 300
And as Marshal said, it just gets a smoother shave
Enjoy and have fun
Yes it can.
Too much stropping can cause your eyesight to suffer, causing your strokes to become extended & causing you to strike the metal ring or buckle at the end of the strop. :beer2:
I don't think it is stropping that causes eyesight failure. You are doing something else that is causing that John.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hirlau
,,,,,,,,:rofl2:
Didnt Gssixgun do a strop test, where he stropped a razor umpteegazillion strokes just to prove it wouldnt damage an edge?
I think so. There was also a group that used the same razor and stropped everyday on a pasted strop to see how long until the bevel rounded out and the razor needed to be rehoned and the results of that one were that everyone got bored after a substantial time had passed and nobodys edge was ruined. here have been a few runs at stropping tests and the only results have been if it is done well it does not matter if you strop 50 or a million times, it's all good and you can strop daily on a pasted strop for maintenance and it is just fine too. I do not think your razor would last 100 years with 100 asses a day on a pasted strop but i am not going to spend the rest of my life with one razor on a pasted strop just to find out either. :-)
"Strop often...And prosper!" :D
If you are stropping on a strop with diamond, CBN, or CrOX abrasive pastes or sprays, you want to limit the number of strokes. This is to prevent the edge from becoming too harsh. FeOx paste is gentle so it should not have this issue.
Excessive stropping on clean cloth or leather may not improve the edge, but it won't hurt it as long as your stropping technique is good.
There is one member here who decompresses by honing on a surgical black Arkansas stone for a couple of hours at a time. With a lot of stones, that amount of honing would remove too much metal, but with the Arkansas stone the edge just becomes burnished.
I wish I had the patience to hone or strop for hours. :w:w
I did a little test today, I put on some Jonny Cash and stropped 1000 laps to see if the edge degraded. I did 200 on Chromexel, 200 on Horween Latigo, 200 on 2 different Shell and 200 on a Kanayama. I had to take a 5 min break half way through as I didn't want to loose concentration.
I was rewarded with an exceptional shave, no degrading whatsoever. Whether it was any better than my usual 40 linen 60 leather I couldn't say but without a doubt it didn't harm it.
With stropping I feel whatever works for you, works. Sometimes I get lost in the moment and just keep going, I definitely get a zen like feeling with steel and leather in my hands.
Wow. I feel like I'm not stropping enough. Probably about 60 combined before & after each shave. I may be an underachiever :bow
:rofl2: No underachievers here, to each their own. If it works for you then it's what to do
Thanks guys, at the moment I'm only stropping at about half speed, want to get my form right first.
I usually only do 25 linen, 50 leather. I'd do less but...OCD and I like those numbers I guess? No logic to it really.Quote:
Originally Posted by 5G62
But when I'm screwing around just to see what happens the game changes a bit and the count can go through the roof. So far, I haven't managed to kill any edge with good stropping. I only had issues when using excess pressure, strop too loose, spine lifted, etc. Bad form. If excessive stropping exists, it must be incredibly hard to achieve.
I mentioned pastes because they have are by and large more abrasive than linen and leather alone. If I can't harm/ruin an edge on something that noticeably abrades metal by stropping on it more than 'needed,' have a field day with the linen and leather. Strop a few hundred, or even a few thousand times if you want. I don't think it's possible to hurt most edges with good stropping on plain material.
I did have to shave an ass once. It was gross, and I dont even want to think of 100 asses a day! :aargh:Quote:
Originally Posted by RezDog
I once did an experiment by stropping a razor several thousand times. This was done over the course of a week. It didn't hurt the blade at all. It gave a good shave, but was no better than a normally stropped razor. I'm thinking that after 50 to 100 laps, the benefit of stropping drops off.
Ever since viewing a Maestro Levi video on palm stropping, I always do the same after stropping on leather. For me, it seems to make the shave an extra 10% better.
Check out an old thread in this forum called "The Grand experiment".
When wanting to have someone view an older thread I for one like to post the link.Quote:
Originally Posted by thebigspendur
I'm Presuming--that this is the one you are referring to. Yes, No, Maybe So? :shrug:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...nal-phase.html
If not could you please provide the proper link? I for one would like to review it.
Thanks :tu
Bwaaahahaha!Quote:
Originally Posted by Magpie
@RezDog Shaun, I myself wouldn't survive a single day with 100 asses to shave, so whether or not the razor would last a 100 years is totally irrelevant. [emoji38]
You guys have it wrong. It is stropping 100 asses.
Shave, strop... minor details, when 100 asses are on the table.
Ok, I'll stop now..... it's gonna give me nightmares, no matter how I interpret it.
You are just looking at it wrong. 100 asses could be a beautiful thing.
Ah thanks Shaun, I think I'll sleep better now!
I love stropping, and SAD prevails in my place. I'm a great fan of Kanayama strops, and, I do 20 laps on canvas, 30 on the suede piece and 100 on the cordovan leather. Great edges, terrific shaves. I don't think you could over strop, but I doubt there would be any real tangible benefit if doing more than 100. Believe me if someone said doing 200 laps makes a difference I'd be the first bloke to do it on one of my collection of llamas.
My friend pinklather belongs to what he refers to as the 'Strop till you Drop Club'. It's not unusual for him to strop on leather alone for over 200 laps for his daily shaves.Quote:
Originally Posted by bobski
For me, after about 50 on cloth or such then 100 on leather that gives me a very nice shave. Plus I just might be a little on the 'lazy' side. :w
We have had guys here in the past who did strop progressions. Multiple laps on linen, latigo, horsehide, this brand, that brand. I used to do 50 linen 50 leather, but now I might do 30/30 - 40/40. Never more than 50 in my long life, and one linen/leather strop at a time, though not always the same one. No rules when it comes to our shaving rituals though, we can all experiment with what works and suit ourselves.
I do big, long. elaborate strop progressions after honing.
After that, one single fabric/leather. No pastes.
For the MOST part, 40/80 before shaving, 20/40 after. They just get better and better.
After a while, I can just pick one up and shave, skipping a session.
At times, before shaves, I skip the fabric as one is fine where it is. Sometimes, I work an edge in with more fabric. I don't think a set number is good. Get to know your blade and what it needs, I think.
I am a firm believer that many of the best edges are finished on the strop.
No matter what finishing hone was used. Steels and grinds! :D
Good stropping is as key as a good edge, fine strop, lather, brush, and good technique.
JMHO
'Spare the strop, spoil the edge!'
,,,,,,:rolleyes: :rofl2:
Yep! Even Hirlau agrees! ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Hirlau
Without a doubt stropping makes all the difference.
It was a multi part deal so the final phase was the last part as I recall. I don't have the links so I'd have to research it just like you and I'm afraid I'm too lazy to do it. I guess I should have saved them but that was a long time ago and I guess I never figured I'd still be around here back then.Quote:
Originally Posted by cudarunner
Har har.
OK, I thought I was OCD at 60 laps. But, I have upped the ante to 100. The shave is smoother. Thanks gents, once again, for continual improvements.
Use a Kanayama, they are a three piece strop, think of those extra laps on the suede piece, fun for the whole family...lol
I agree with many of the others here. On plain leather there seems to be no such thing as too much (this is quite different from using abrasive paste and maybe fabric).
A few (maybe 10) strokes on fabric, and then as many as you have patience for on the leather seems to be the best. A couple of times I have forgotten that I stropped a razor before, so I did it over again, or a few times I have been thinking about other things while stropping and completely lost count (well over 100 strokes, maybe 200). Those times, the razor (if it's a good one) will generally take off my stubble like butter, and the sound of it feels almost like a purring cat :D
Interesting. Linky please?Quote:
Originally Posted by Wayne1963
I sometimes strop on my forearm. I have hair on the dorsal side of the forearm, but very little on the ventral side (same side as the palm). It's like a fabric side and a plain leather side :D
One further "stropping" is putting some soap on the index finger and thumb and rubbing the edge between the two fingers. I think this is very good both before and after the shave.