Stropping Observation

[AFDavis11]

Just thought I would share some stropping experiment/observations I did today.

I decided to do some stropping experiments to evaluate some theories I have developed on strop deflection, slack, etc. I wanted to evaluate if there was anything I could do to organize or structure strop deflection, or sag in order to improve edges. This is experimentation I have done many times. The difference this time was that I was going to evaluate razor edges, four of them, with the Thumb Pad Test and shaving. I have concluded that I can accept a good shave, but I can't evaluate an edge simply by shaving. I can only evaluate strop performance with a TPT.

In my experiment I would conduct a type of stropping, then I would evalute the razors, then I would rehone them to the same point, then try another method. I kept loose notes on the best stropping method. Again, though I am searching for marked improvement in the edge, not correction of a damaged edge. It would be unacceptable for the edge to simply keep shaving well.

I started with significant sag in the strop (about an inch of drop) and could not improve any of the edges with stropping. I was surprised to discover that I could not damage the edges so that they would not shave either. They simply did not improve at all. The real meat of my theory was that the edge could be shaped and then stropped flat and improved, but this seemed unproven as well.

Next I moved to deflection, up to a 1/4 inch, and I tried slight deflection too. Both failed to improve the edges as well. Although the razors all shaved well, again, I was evaluating strop improvement through direct TPT evaluation.

I finally began using a taut flat strop and worked the edges again. This time I was a little surprised that, again, I was not able to evaluate any improvement off the strop. It shaved well, but failed to improve. I was looking for radical improvement, either using pressure or using a light touch.

Finally, I think I succeeded. I applied dry bar soap to the strop. I used a touch of pressure to build the most draw possible on the strop. Then I rode the razor out for about 30 passes, working it against the draw. The razors really seemed to protest being stropped like this. Strop held taut. All the edges improved noticebly on the TPT test. They all became noticebly sticky. I test shaved with the razors and they all shaved very, very well too.

I think I have found a stropping method to settle in on for a while. Although I am BBS now from WTG only passes, the experiments took about 10 passes altogether.