Thread: My stropping technique.

Speed achieves nothing, especially if youre new to stropping. It may look cool in videos, but stropping can either make or break an edge. I strop slowly and get great results.

A certain amount of pressure yes, but no more force than the weight of the blade is required. too much force and the edge will become dull.

have you tried a paddle strop?

Originally Posted by Scipio

Speed achieves nothing, especially if youre new to stropping. It may look cool in videos, but stropping can either make or break an edge. I strop slowly and get great results.

A certain amount of pressure yes, but no more force than the weight of the blade is required. too much force and the edge will become dull.

have you tried a paddle strop?

This is true, to a point. The ridiculous speed some barbers/videos show is ridiculous, and you are better off starting VERY slow until you get the hang of it... but shooting for an ultimate speed of about 1lap/sec will get you superior results.

exactly why does speed give [I]superior[I] results?

Originally Posted by Scipio

exactly why does speed give [I]superior[I] results?

See my post earlier in this thread...it's all about achieving a critical amount of force to bend the steel, and you need the force in a lateral plane. The slower you go, the more of the force has to come from a vertical plane.

I'm currently around 45-50 laps per minute. I'm not to far off of a lap per sec. I thought based on the videos I was seening, I needed to be around 90 laps a minute, thank you for clarifying that to me. I think I will pay a little more attention to ensuring my blade is properly meeting the strop and gradualy build up to a 1:1 ratio.
@ scipio I don't have wooden strop I didn't like what I saw of people using them on vids, although I wouldn't say I would never give them a try.

60 isn't necessarily a hard, scientific number.... just a ballpark. YMMV, find what works for you. I definitely still strop more in the 40-50 range....tops....

Id recommend a paddle strop, theyre much easier to learn on as tension is not required. i have both types and use the paddle as my main strop, the hanging type is only for pastes. Each to their own, but i personally prefer the paddle

Originally Posted by BKratchmer

See my post earlier in this thread...it's all about achieving a critical amount of force to bend the steel, and you need the force in a lateral plane. The slower you go, the more of the force has to come from a vertical plane.

This is complete BS I'm sorry. Take Physics 101 then come back and talk about it. Friction between solids depends ONLY on Normal (ie. vertical) force. Lateral force has nothing to do with it. Also, force is the derivative of momentum (ie. rate of change) so "establishing" a critical momentum doesn't even make sense. Momentum doesn't generate force. In fact, Newton's first law is "an object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion (has momentum) stays in motion, until acted upon by a force".