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

Friction causes heat. The more friction the more heat. We strop lightly because we do not want the cutting edge to crumble or curl upwards.

Steel conducts heat fast. When stropping at the speed the more experienced stroppers strop the air flowing above the heated bevel will blow the heat away.

So the little heat generated by stropping at light pressure will be blown and conducted away from the cutting edge resulting in negligeable increase of temperature.

Has anyone ever taken infra-red pictures of a razor being stropped?

OK, here's my latest:

Canvas is there as a base for applying pastes etc to, which is something you can't do with your regular stropping surface.

In the barbers' manuals of olden times they say to prepare the canvas by rubbing in a white soap to fill in the voids. I myself rubbed in Dovo white to fill the voids. Before adding the white, the canvas was of little discernable value.

So, the canvas isn't helpful by heating the edge, nor by simple canvas friction, but rather as a foundation upon which to apply a fine medium.

Canvas/Linen strops were and are for sharpening the edge and as Seraphim points out, the canvas/linen also makes a great foundation for pastes. I very much doubt that the Linen was EVER referred to for "heating" the razors edge. I am a firm believer in the beneficial use of the Linen in preparing a razor for shaving but not in the dreamt up ways some on here in the past have said it works. There is a lot of false information passed about on this forum as if it is fact. A compilation of FACTS should be added to the database for newcomers to access. eg. Fin etc If something works well and needs no improvement....why analize it then try to reinvent it, which seems to happen.

I vote: Cut out the BS.

PuFF

I nominate Ben325e as head SRP MythBuster.

Here's the link for canvas strops of yore...

Originally Posted by PuFFaH

I very much doubt that the Linen was EVER referred to for "heating" the razors edge.
PuFF

Here it is: A.B. Moler, The Barbers' Manual 1911, revised edition 1926 p.38

"There is a friction in stropping on the canvas that heats the metal, thereby expanding it and bringing it out to a keener edge so enough stropping should be given on the canvas to heat the blade, from one-half to one dozen strokes."

In 1893 A.B. Moler established the first professional college for barbers in the United States.


Scott

Originally Posted by Seraphim

OK, here's my latest:

Canvas is there as a base for applying pastes etc to, which is something you can't do with your regular stropping surface.

In the barbers' manuals of olden times they say to prepare the canvas by rubbing in a white soap to fill in the voids. I myself rubbed in Dovo white to fill the voids. Before adding the white, the canvas was of little discernable value.

So, the canvas isn't helpful by heating the edge, nor by simple canvas friction, but rather as a foundation upon which to apply a fine medium.

Why didn't they just use another leather surface for pastes then? There were many "sharpen/finish" dual leather strops way back when with at least one side of them pasted so I still think the linen had a different initial application. True if you only had a leather/linen and wanted to paste the cloth would be the one to paste but since both types were made they must have had a purpose.

Just a thought.

Tony

I think it is like honing: you go from a coarser surface (linen) to a finer one (leather).

Originally Posted by Tony Miller

Why didn't they just use another leather surface for pastes then? There were many "sharpen/finish" dual leather strops way back when with at least one side of them pasted so I still think the linen had a different initial application. True if you only had a leather/linen and wanted to paste the cloth would be the one to paste but since both types were made they must have had a purpose.

Just a thought.

Tony

I would put the manufacturers choice of using either linen or leather as the sharpening side of the strop down to:
Cost
Availability of material
Prestige
design choice
Gimmick
and others if I had the time to think

I seriously doubt that 12 passes over the linen could generate enough or any heat to be of any benifit to the stropping process. I am convinced that it's only function was to sharpen a razor. Myths regarding what happens to the razors edge have been dreamt up since man started shaving with one, heating the edge being one of them.

PuFF