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The razor is still going down hill, slowly. Today the blade didn't shave well. Not much irritation or problems just not a good complete shave. Slow stropping does not seem to be working too well the farther I go on this edge. Perhaps one more shave than back to fast stropping.
Pretty good shaves all round. It does feel as though the edges on both razors are improving each time I strop at this quicker pace. 7/10 for both shaves today.
James.
You know, out of all the advice I have ever received from this site and Lynn's DVD, I don't recall anyone ever telling me that I should strop slowly and methodically, except when a newbie and just learning the ropes. After I got used to doing this, I have always used a rather quick and light touch with every razor I strop, and I am now to the point where I really don't even touch the tang anymore, I just use my thumb and first two fingers on the scales only. Unfortunately that has led to a nicked strop, but I can always but another strop, like I really need an excuse to buy another Tony Miller. I know some of you guys love this experiment, and I had a grand time reading it, but the advice I received months ago about using light quick strokes (once you get used to it) should pretty much be standard by now. Alas, we always seem to be relearning the basics. Either way, if there is ever a experiment of Alan's that I will one day attempt to replicate, it won't be this one, it will be the fire ash experiment. S:cen t that's hot! Great, now my strop is on fire...
I forgot to mention, the fire should be out first! I think holding the jimps when stropping would be important, but thats important to think about. I've never thought about holding the scales. Very unusual. I agree with you Jimmyman; I think, for me, that I am thinking at this point that fast stropping is important enough that I would recommend atleast moderate speed even for newbies. :)
Today I rehoned the razor, a serious touch up on a Carborundum (16 passes). I used linen afterward. I didn't shave yesterday so it was a two day beard.
Todays shave was excellent. Fast stropping seems to be a nice change. The blade shaved nicely even on the small spots I typically go against the grain on (the neck and the area just under the jaw line). I found the chin area was really easy today too. I remembered to use the base of the edge for the bottom of the chin, the middle for the middle, and the tip for the top of the chin. I had 2 days growth and I find that a straight is such a superior whisker weapon with a heavy beard.
I also used linen for 15 strokes prior to the shave.
Now that the razor is honed I'm going to try adding linen and run the blade a few shaves fast and then go back slow to reevaluate the fast then slow approach.
I could really tell the honing this time was exceptional, far better overrall than last time.
Guys... thanks for taking the time for doing this , its really interesting and helpfull.
I'm still at this experiment, but have not had a lot of time to post over the past week or so. End of semester is rapidly approaching and I've needed to write several exam papers etc.
Anyway, I finished off the moderate stropping set of shaves (around the 1 return trip per second mark). The shaves we all better than when I did slow stropping, and more on par with what I usually get when shaving normally. There was a couple of days at the beginning of the moderate stropping set where the edge improved slightly. Then it basically stayed the same after that, as far as I could tell. I'd say the latter shaves were 7/10.
Moving onto the fast speed stropping from today - I've timed myself on a third razor a couple of times to see how fast I can actually go. From scratch I averaged somewhere around 90 per minute. Given the speeds Alan mentioned before, I think I'll try to use an 85 trips per minute rate for the fast stropping, as this is only slightly faster than what I usually do anyway, so I won't be in any danger of wrecking my edges trying to push my limits on the strop.
I've got an electronic metronome that I will set up so that it ticks 170 times per minute to make sure I get the rate correct. Who'd have thought your old metronome would come in handy for shaving?
James.
Good shave this morning. I would rate it about a 8 out of 10. Seems a light touch on the linen works well. I may experiment a little with pressure as I 'm not certain what the pressure levels should be for linen. Shave was smooth and comfy. I was in a hurry today so I didn't do any soaking of the beard but it came out alright. I added another razor today, a stainless 6/8. I'm curious how it'll respond. I did not strop the second razor at all and it shaved well too. I want to see how they both react.
Great shave today. I completed 15 passes on linen and some very fast stropping. I used a 6/8 stainless on a paddle strop also, shaving with both (the other razor is a 5/8 carbon). The shave was excellent, a 9 out of 10 easy. I was not able to strop "fast" on the paddle, only quickly (about 45 strokes a minute). The draw was too much. At the end of the shave I did some slap/stropping on the hanging strop and built up a wicked draw on the carbon razor and achieved BBS WTG. Amazing. Even some spots I typically do not get well shaved, like the upper lip were BBS.
When I was done I had that strange pale glow from shaving deep under the skin. That is very, very rare for me. I did have too much fun and had just a touch of irritation later in the day but overall it was a great shave, almost a 10.
So I played a little too much and went a little crazy but at least now I now the razor is set very well for the terrible weekend coming up. I hope the edges will hold for a while before they go down hill like last time. Wish me luck, my face is already wincing from the anticipation of slow stopping. This time though I'll be adding linen pre-leather.
We shudder collectively for you, Alan. :) I'll be waiting eagerly to hear how it goes...
Josh
Todays shave was pretty good. I stropped the razor up slowly and got a decent shave. The linen sounds like its not being very effective. I found that slow stropping allows me more ability to focus on how the razor is drawing and to position my fingers in a variety of spots along the shank. The subtle differences between pressing on the edge side of the shank and directly at the middle of the shank were interesting. I'm not sure if the ability to feel the draw and compensate accordingly by holding the shank is based on experience or if anyone would be able to feel this sensation. My gut reaction is that anyone would be able to feel it given about a week of practice stropping.
The razor pulled and provided a touch of irritation, but only a touch of both. I'd rate it in the area of a 6, maybe a 7.
I played with razor and strop afterward and discovered that more stropping slowly can compensate. Each 10 additional strokes seemed to add more draw. I needed to progress up to about 60 and at 75 passes it seemed to peak. I would estimate that 30 strokes provided about 50% of the draw I was able to eventually acquire.
I took a break yesterday and today I shaved with another razor. I did my more traditional slap stropping, fast stropping etc. Today I'm going out for my B'day dinner and I'm not compromising on the qualilty of my shave. So there! :)
More tomorrow.
haha, happy Birthday, Alan :)
cheers,
Nenad
Yesterdays shave was alright, about a 5 or so. A little irriation and less cutting ability than normal. I was able to feel a few moments when I irritated my skin. Otherwise nothing to report. The razor has some decent draw to it. I did find it hard to strop slow. Once you equate speed with comfort its more difficult. But yesterdays shave was ok. Once again I got the sense that more stropping might be able to overcome some of the problems but I only stropped the spec'd 15/30, slow.
Well, the past few days with faster stropping have all been good. Probably 8 out of 10 for these shaves. Very little irritation and no pulling.
I'm fairly convinced that, for a given number of strokes, faster stropping is better than slower, but my limitations on the strop in terms of speed mean that I can only comment up to the 85 strokes per minute (spm) speed. Over that you're on your own.
The other day I was rubbing my strop with my hand and noticed that I was able to generate a fair bit of heat into the leather by going really hard and really fast (Duh). I think I'll try the 85spm stropping right after making the leather hot with my hand, and see what, if anything, that does to the shave.
James.
I'd just like to say thanks to the guys for subjecting themselves to the ordeal of shaving with blunt-ish razors. I've adjusted my stropping speed and, lo and behold, my face is smoother.
Many thanks. :)
Not a bad shave today. The razor didn't cut too well, but it did ok. Just a tad of irritation but generally pretty smooth. I skipped yesterday so I had a little softer beard today. If I have to strop slowly, I do like the linen first. Nothing noteworthy in todays shave really. I was still able to go against the grain a little and I have yet to really sense a significant drop in performance. Any drop that is occuring is very slow and moderate. I did note a need to use a very disciplined shaving angle also.
I would judge todays shave a 6 out of 10.
I am still able to sense the difficulty in obtaining draw with slow stropping though. Its obtainable, but more challenging to achieve.
Tomorrow I will use linen fast and see if I can sense any improvements.
This mornings shave was excellent. Overall quality of the edge improved with increased speed. You can get a real sense of the light touch you can use if you add speed to the process. The linen seems to add more draw to the edge. I was able to go against the grain with only a small amount of pull and the edge had a strange smoothness to it, like it wasn't really even sharp, yet it obliterated the whiskers. This would have to be one of the better straight shaves ever. Its about 10 hours after the shave now and my face is still smooth, BBS, and irritation free. I'll rate it a 9+ out of 10.
Another great shave today, no issues or problems. No unusual observations. I'd rate it about an 8+ out of 10. Its about 10 hours later and I'm still near BBS (but not BBS) despite not going against the grain when shaving.
I think there is a point of mid-speed stropping that is very effective but I haven't found it yet. It still seems strop draw is a good indicator of a shaving edge and stickiness is following all stropping at speed.
Sometimes reviving a dead thread is a good thing. :)