Thread: Stropping a certain area of the blade.

Hi guys, I have a question regarding how to get an even sharpness all across the blade. I have a blade right now that I stropped 100 times on the light leather side, then another 100 on the red side. The blade is real sharp right in the middle (it will perform a HHT no problem), but in the heel is not as sharp. The toe isn't bad, but it's not as sharp as the middle. Can I stop a certain area of the blade, or should I work on my technique so that I'm getting the entire surface of the blade stropped adequately. I am a beginner, so this is probably an issue of technique. I just was wondering if this happens to any of you, and how you would remedy it.

Does the razor have a smile???? a gentle curve along the blade....

A smiling blade:



A straight edge blade:

No, it is a straight Dovo.

I don't actually think that this is just a case of stropping technique, but lets go through it anyway....

The stropping process is the same technique as honing only in reverse...
the entire edge has to touch the leather as you are stropping, so you actually use a slight x pattern on the strop too... You have to make sure that the entire edge is moving across the leather....
Honestly, I have found that stropping is more about paying attention to the spine of the razor than the edge...If you keep the strop taut, and make sure the spine of the razor moves correctly, the edge takes care of itself.....

Does the strop hang by a single grommet or a D ring or similar D swivel? I ask since you said it's a straight blade and since you've said both the toe and the heel aren't getting stropped like the middle.

My experience with single grommet strops is that excess tension can cause the strop to cup in a concave manner. This would produce the opposite of what you describe (only toe and heel would get stropped). But....maybe it's possible that the leather is cupping for you in a convex manner?

One great way to tell if your razor is touching the strop along the entire edge on BOTH sides of the razor and something I do with all new/vintage razors I hone and take to the strop for the very first time; make an ULTRA slow test run complete pass and watch the edge very closely. Does the entire edge make contact on both the away and the toward strokes? If not, does adjusting your tension on the strop help at all? Experimentation.

Chris L

Thanks Chris. This is exactly what was happening. I rubbed the strop with my hands to flatten it out a bit. I have also adjusted my technique to incorporate more of an X pattern. It seems to have worked. I will just have to make sure to keep the stop taught, and use the x pattern so that is does not form that slight curve. Thanks for the help.