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

Now you see, that's why I love this place. Without reading this thread, I'd have blindly given in to the ancient wisdom about 'canvas heating the blade' just as I did the 'teeth or striations do the cutting' argument for a long time. The latter has been proven false, but the myth persists. After having read the posts here I am returned to my natural state, the sceptic.

Other than rubbing a honing compound such as wood ash into the linen to give it a purpose, I don't know what it does(so no vote), but I sometimes strop 12-20 times on linen before leather in my pre-shave stropping.

X

Originally Posted by xman

Other than rubbing a honing compound such as wood ash into the linen to give it a purpose, I don't know what it does(so no vote), but I sometimes strop 12-20 times before leather stropping in me pre-shave stropping.

X

Insofar as stropping on linen, this post right here and doing it made a believer out of me.

Thanks Jimmy, that post had somehow flown under my radar, and makes great sense. I do about 25 laps on the canvas usually, so I'll try to bump that up a bit and see if my edge longevity goes up.

What was the question? Regardless of what you rub/strop your blade on it will heat up. Some materials will generate more heat than others. Remember carpet burn? Right after the carpet burn does your knee burn your hand? While there is heat generated, and maybe to some substantial amount, it is localized and it dissipates quickly. So to use a linen/canvas strop to warm the blade before leather, not. I find the leather warms my blades well enough by itself. Sometimes I can smell the leather while I am stropping. It is the friction of heat that is loosing the aroma of the leather. I haven't seen any smoke yet! I feel the linen/canvas is a very mild abrasive and a step in the refining of the edge. Ask any Hair Dresser, Barber or Taylor to borrow their scissors to cut some paper and watch them cringe! The wood pulp in the paper is abrasive and dulls the scissors. I feel the linen/canvas has similar properties and used properly refines the edge. What I have notices is that if my strop is too cold (saving money by reducing heat) I don't get the same draw as when the strop is warmer. The cooler the strop the less draw. In fact one day my blade skid right off the strop due to the reduced draw being much less than I was expecting. I vote BS on linen/canvas for heat but +1 on using it to refine the edge/reduce burrs. The same effect may be possible w/ leather only but it may take more strokes to achieve the same results.

Good luck in your quest for the perfect edge.

I would love to jump into this, but I am already embroiled in the debate as to wether or not there really is a Fin.

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

I would love to jump into this, but I am already embroiled in the debate as to wether or not there really is a Fin.

I checked the members google map.

The answer to your question is yes, there is a Fin, and he lives in Helsinki.

Originally Posted by Tony Miller

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

Wow, that sounds great! I think I found what I want for my birthday this year

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

I would love to jump into this, but I am already embroiled in the debate as to wether or not there really is a Fin.

Dahahaha. me too! but I'll jump in for a post anyway.

Sure there is heat transfer but it is transfered from the metal that is hotter to the metal that is cooler. It's not instantaneous. You could heat the edge enough to change the rigidness of the edge without significantly heating the spine (at least for a little while). Try an electrical grinder. You can turn the edge glowing hot almost immediately and still touch the spine. The entire surface of the blade will act as a radiator. Some amount of heat could be completely dissapated/radiated before it ever reached the spine.

Ok, fine. Now, is it possible to generate enough heat in the edge to soften the metal by normal hand stropping? even soften it a little? That I think is BS.

Let's assume you could. Why would you want to remove the temper in the edge?

Don't remember where I read it or the moral of the story but there is the tale of the feller than bought a new ax. In the super cold of the winter up there he chipped the edge so he returned it. They gave him a new ax and explained that it should be kept warm as this model has a very hard edge and can become brittle in the extreme cold. He brought that one back too and they traded him out a model that was tempered softer.
point is though in the old days the ole shave den might get pretty cold if geographically predisposed to harsh winters.

it's a stretch 'cause you need to strop anyway, but a frozen edge is more easily damaged.

Originally Posted by kevint

it's a stretch 'cause you need to strop anyway, but a frozen edge is more easily damaged.

Given the carbon (or stainless) steel we find in razor blades and a baseline at 70*F, at what temperature do you think the steel gets measurably more brittle? and at what temperature do you think it gets measurably softer?