Thread: Interesting article

My Grandfather's Shumate (Austin,TX) Strop is of two leathers: the thicker hard one is stamped "Sharpen". The thinner softer one is stamped "Finish". Stopping is not an exact science for me. It seems to work well anyway.

Is the consensus that the blade should be oiled before being put away?

Originally Posted by Miner123

Is the consensus that the blade should be oiled before being put away?

Better to be safe than sorry. After rinsing in hot water I dry mine with a kleenex tissue and then strop 20 or 30 round trips on leather to remove any micro gunk out of the striations on the bevel. Then I wipe mine with a silicone gun cloth impregnated with a rust inhibitor. So far so good and in a humid tropical climate.

very interesting article! Now I'm going to try and throw a kink into the discussion. This author says stropping after shaving will damage the blade: http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwi...Using_Tips.pdf

He mentions the idea of the metal spontaneously "growing" for 24 hours after shaving, and that the misalignments in the steel as a result from shaving will break off and embed in the leather strop if you strop right after shaving. Thoughts anyone?

I'd say most people have ideas on this without any evidence in either direction. They either believe, or they don't.

I don't believe "grow" is the right word, but because of the spine alignment working against any edge imperfections I would have to agree with the idea of realignment over time. I think the spine and support metal at the tip of the blade work against an edge misalignment. In order to prove this to myself I often go without stropping. If I do this in less than 24 hours it doesn't work, greater than 24 hours, works everytime.

Most people vehemently disagree with these thoughts, and I'm cool with that. Although I've never seen a valid argument for, or against, either idea.

Personally, unless you are like me and go without stropping at times, I fail to see why any of this would even matter . . .

Edit: I missed part of the idea of the question . . . I guess I will also agree about potential damage, but its gotta be rare because its not my normal observation.

I do a few things to protect my strop against stray metal, but not enough to really claim that I find it something to worry about. I use linen first, and let the razor rest after a shave. I could easily not do that and wouldn't have any perceptable problem either. Much like a barber I could use a razor again, and again, and not expect any problem. I think it is one of those things that hardly ever presents itself, unless perhaps over like decades of poor use.

If someone were to argue that it doesn't happen, simply because they have never seen evidence of it happening would still not convince me that it doesn't happen. Conjecture on the subject, whether veiled in confident language or not, wouldn't help me either.

I'd suggest that only someone that uses quite a bit of pressure stropping, for example, would ever notice a piece of metal in a strop, and only after shaving 10-15 people with the edge, such as a professional barber. In other words, no one on this forum would be very qualified to claim they have seen this happen, again, not evidence for me that it can't happen.

But to me that might be strong evidence that it is very unlikely to happen . . . any of it.

Originally Posted by DanS

very interesting article! Now I'm going to try and throw a kink into the discussion. This author says stropping after shaving will damage the blade: http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwi...Using_Tips.pdf

He mentions the idea of the metal spontaneously "growing" for 24 hours after shaving, and that the misalignments in the steel as a result from shaving will break off and embed in the leather strop if you strop right after shaving. Thoughts anyone?

That's the Arthur Boon article from about a decade ago. It's moot now as we know there are no "teeth" at the edge of the razor therefore no folding of them. Hence stropping after a shave cannot cause the damage he alludes to. Rust and corrosion are the culprits that dull a blade.

Regards,
EL

Originally Posted by elbonator

That's the Arthur Boon article from about a decade ago. It's moot now as we know there are no "teeth" at the edge of the razor therefore no folding of them. Hence stropping after a shave cannot cause the damage he alludes to. Rust and corrosion are the culprits that dull a blade.

Regards,
EL

Ah, I guess I missed that he was basing his argument on the saw-toothed premise. thanks for clarifying that.

I would also like to add my thanks to you for this article - if I can figure out how one goes about doing such a thing.

Now the "thanks" button is showing up on my screen, so thanks.

My dear Alan,

Thank you for posting this most illuminating article, and thank you all, gentlemen, for your commentary.

On a personal note, I must also compliment Mr. Martin's fine writing way back in 1931.

Regards,
Obie