Thread: Stropping Speed Experiment

I think you gents have given enough blood to the cause. If the pilot study is an abject failure, draw your conclusions and move on. At least some speed seems to be necessary.

Cheers,
Ed

....no!....(gasp)....must.....complete....experime ntal.....protocol.....(cough)!

No, seriously, I've already spoken to Alan about cutting short the "slow" phase - I'll do one or two more days at slow speeds just to make sure, since I'm fairing a bit better at the moment. But there's definitely, in my mind, a necessary speed required - and what we're doing at the moment ain't it!

James.

What, you guys are quitting already? I stuck with it for six months....

This thread has been interesting and fun, in a sadistic sort of way. I wish we'd done this last fall instead of this fall...

Josh

All i can say is thank you for experimenting about this...it is very very interesting...looking forward for more....
Thanks again.

I'm stropping fast this morning, will post tonight. I'm not using linen but will add it later.

As I was thinking about this, it's just gotten more interesting. Do you guys feel that stropping slow is worse than not stropping at all? Alan, I remember you've said before that you can sometimes go multiple shaves without stropping, even if it's not the most comfortable thing...

Fascinated,
Josh

First, Josh, to answer your question. Yes, no stropping is better than slow stropping but the logical reasoning here is this is after many days of faster stropping. The edge is set if you will.

FAST STROPPING-

Immediate improvement. Very noticable. I stropped 30 passes and the razor built up a draw that originally never occured. I shaved and it provided a decent shave, probably a 5 out of 10, much better than just yesterday that was unrateable. As strange as this might sound I was able to go against the grain but the edge was still not as good as many I've had. It pulled a little. I initially tallied this up to using only 30 strokes but subsequent additional stropping (30 more fast strokes) failed to improve the edge.

Therefore I am concluding that the edge is indeed better and that the edge was not honed as well as I should have honed it. A mistake on my part. None the less the results are better.

I shall try again tomorrow with fast stropping.

I'm curious how you gentlemen would like me to incorporate the linen?

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

First, Josh, to answer your question. Yes, no stropping is better than slow stropping but the logical reasoning here is this is after many days of faster stropping. The edge is set if you will.

Which could be why my shaves haven't been as nasty as Alan's. I've been using razors that have been stropped normally in the past, whereas I think Alan's razor came fresh off the hone.

James.

So----

No shave just off the hone and the faster more the better more on the strop.

gotcha, Bruce

(Tony is going to love the business)