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Thread: Stroping backward
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02-18-2010, 12:11 PM #1
Stroping backward
I have a question but I am not sure I can put it so it is understood. I am going to try.
When honing a razor in the X pattern we do that with the heel slightly leading expecially on a narrow stone. That puts the teeth at a slight angle toward the heel.
When we strop we also do it in an X pattern with the heel leading but the razor is backward putting the teeth in the other direction. Why is this.
Shouldn't we strop with the point forward so it goes in the same direction as the teeth we have already put on the blade?
I know on a wide stone we can push the blade straight across but still when we hone we hone with the heel leading a little.
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02-18-2010, 01:12 PM #2
this is not true for everyone. Some folks strop leading with the heel, some with the toe, some with neither, and some use a combination of those
I don't know if there's a best way to strop or what difference the "teeth" make, but I know I can sometimes feel a difference in how the bevel is making contact with the strop between leading the with heel and leading with the toe. I'm curious as to the right answer to your question so I look forward to reading the stropmeisters answersFind me on SRP's official chat in ##srp on Freenode. Link is at top of SRP's homepage
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02-18-2010, 04:29 PM #3
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Thanked: 13229Mack I am with you on this...
And being "OCD boy" as the wife calls me I do exactly that strop with the toe leading. I even try and keep it at the same angle...
And ask Lee, he has stood right next to me while I hone I really don't believe in the "straight stroke" down the hone.. There is always an angle and I even mix up the strokes as I hone to keep the edge even... Whether all this really makes a difference, I couldn't tell you, I think it does, but I could never prove it...Last edited by gssixgun; 02-18-2010 at 06:03 PM.
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02-18-2010, 04:33 PM #4
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02-18-2010, 09:23 PM #5
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Thanked: 1587Here's an older thread with some discussion of the subject. Personally I have found no real appreciable difference between stropping with the hone striations and not, but that is not to say there isn't any. Better stroppers than me do it that way, so there must be something to it.
James.<This signature intentionally left blank>
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02-18-2010, 11:15 PM #6
I strop with an x pattern and mix up the angles and alter the strokes as I go. Is it better than going straight up the strop? I don't know but it's how I do it.
No matter how many men you kill you can't kill your successor-Emperor Nero
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02-18-2010, 11:34 PM #7
I don't think x patterns are about teeth patterns. They are about completeness and consistency and a proper (high quality) stroke.
Strops, especially, don't impart directional striations. So, stropping backwards is especially puzzling to me.
Additionally, thin hones and strops are more about freedom of movement and concentration of honing action. You can strop all over a 2 inch wide strop, but a 3 inch wide strop requires a linear up and down stroke. My arm actually finds it pretty hard to go striaight up and down. I'm thankful for a 2 inch wide strop. To me a 2 inch wide strop feels like it is 5 inches wide, because I can move the blade 3 inches in each direction mid stroke.
These are all concepts that are impossible to explain in a way that anyone would accept. With time and practice you'll start to at least understand my perspective on the idea.Last edited by AFDavis11; 02-19-2010 at 09:44 AM.