Thread: Canvas "heats" the edge: Fact or Fiction?

thanks now i know.

i was thinking that earlier... i just ran it under hot water to heat it (if it needed it or not).

With regards to the bit about the amount of friction affecting the stropping, I'm not sure it plays a role. It seems to me that leather is effective as a final stropping material because it is smooth, regardless of how much friction there is.

While I have only used one leather strop, I am basing this statement on what others have said with respect to the amount of draw their strop has compared to how a blade shaves off their strop. It seems that, for some people, more draw results in a better shave, but this is not the case for everyone. Here I add in my own experiences. With my own strop, if a razor has little to no draw, it will likely give a poor shave. But, if I take that same razor back to the hones and return to the strop with a keener edge, I find more draw and get a better shave.

Combining those experiences of mine with what others have said, I reached the conclusion that, while the amount of draw on a particular strop may tell you something about how a razor will shave, the change in draw (and therefore friction) is a result of the blade's sharpness rather than an indicator of what the strop is doing to the blade.

Beyond that, I can't really comment on the canvas bit, since I have never used canvas to strop.

I voted BS on this one. Its documented sparsly and I've mentioned it a few times but canvas and linen are used to rough up the edge when it becomes too smooth from stroping to effectively catch whiskers. As hard as that is to believe, that is what its doing.

I think it probably warms the blade a little too but I would think that stropping on leather warms the blade much more (because of the increased friction). I don't know if warming has any effect though.

Perhaps we just got confused at some point between what a strop does and what linen/canvas does.

Originally Posted by huntmol

This is a great thread! I've never believed in the heating canvas myth, but I've got an Illinois strop with linen and it does seem to work well enough.
Maybe the ideal strop has three strips - one canvas, one latigo, and one horsehide!
Excuse me, I've got an idea to pitch to Tony

Actually one of my first products was a "tri-strop". I used an Illinois "linen", an 827 leather and a 127 leather all tied together on a single hanger.
The Artisan version is already being worked on for January.

Tony

I just took a 5/8 Puma full hollow and gave it 50 round trips on an old Red Imp linen and then held it to my cheek. It wasn't hot or even slightly heated to a point where I was able to perceive a change.

There are a number of reasons that cause me to be certain that the principle of "edge heating" is completely bogus.

1. Depending on the canvas and leather, the leather could actually generate more heat.

2. I don't think anyone can strop fast enough and long enough to heat it faster than it would air cool - at least to any degree that would have some metallurgical significance.

3. I can't think of anything good that comes out of heating a ready steel blade but I can think of some bad things that could come of it, metalurgically speaking.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I just took a 5/8 Puma full hollow and gave it 50 round trips on an old Red Imp linen and then held it to my cheek. It wasn't hot or even slightly heated to a point where I was able to perceive a change.

Ah, empirical data! Actually I think the only way the canvas heats the blade is by virtue of the increased length of time the razor is held in your warm hand.

Another thing I have been doing the past couple of weeks is holding the blade under hot tap water before I make my first pass and rinsing with hot as I go. My tap is not too hot to wash my face in so no metallurgical risk there.

I had read in the barber manual in the help files that it was advisable to do this. I can't say that I perceive a difference for sure. I think I do but it may be the good old placebo effect.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Another thing I have been doing the past couple of weeks is holding the blade under hot tap water before I make my first pass and rinsing with hot as I go. My tap is not too hot to wash my face in so no metallurgical risk there.

I had read in the barber manual in the help files that it was advisable to do this. I can't say that I perceive a difference for sure. I think I do but it may be the good old placebo effect.

Aha, but I think this falls under the category of looking far a shave that cuts whiskers like it is "a hot knife through butter"....