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  1. #11
    Robert Williams Custom Razors PapaBull's Avatar
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    Hanging strops work great for a good reason. They "flex". In order for a paddle strop to work properly, it has to "flex", too, and that's why the best paddle strops are flexible in the middle and have a thick layer of felt under them. The reason this "flex" is desireable is because it polishes a micro-bevel onto the blade. It's honed at one angle and the strop actually generates a new bevel angle for a very, very small bevel, which makes the edge stronger and more durable. You don't need a microbevel. Laying a strop flat on a table will still work, but the edge won't last as long, in my opinion.

    We definitely wouldn't want to hone in a 2nd bevel because it would remove too much steel and make re-honing a real bear to do each time, so what's worked for centuries has been to create a straight bevel with the hone and then use the hanging strop to get it shaving sharp by wearing/polishing in a secondary bevel at the very edge. The longer you shave with it and the more you strop it, the more durable it becomes until it becomes too obtuse and blunt to shave any more. Then it's ready for rehoning.

    That's my take on it, anyway.

    Feather blades from Japan actually have three bevel angles visible under very high magnification and all in a blade that's about as thin as a baby's hair.

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  3. #12
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    huh, never heard of the secondary or micro bevel, sounds interesting and makes sense.

    still havin greal trouble getting a good stropping job with the haangin gstrop though

  4. #13
    Senior Member Korndog's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by AFDavis11
    Oh come on guys....admit it! We do it because its cooler. You can lay it flat if you want, probably better if your starting out anyway.
    Well, I will admit that it's way cooler to have a hanger. I modified an old Dovo Russian leather strop with a piece of balsa wood glued to the back of the leather and have enjoyed the best of both worlds. I know Tony is working on a similar hybrid.

    I'm not sure about a new micro-bevel being formed by the bow in a hanging strop. I do think that there is an element of bounce to the leather itself. This might do some of the work when it rebounds from the pressure of the spine in any supple piece of leather. I'm pretty sure that it's near impossible to keep from rounding and edge with an unstable stropping surface. But then again, hanging leather has been around for a long time.


  5. #14
    Robert Williams Custom Razors PapaBull's Avatar
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    The hone stays flat but the leather, especially from a hanging strop, bends at the edge of the blade, giving it a more obtuse angle of contact than the hone does - hence the microbevel. You don't get this effect from a thin piece of layer on a flat surface. Even a heavy piece of leather on a flat, firm surface doesn't give the same exact result. No matter how tightly you pull a leather strop and no matter how lightly you strop, it is going to "bend" where you've got the razor putting pressure against it. Therefore, it polishes at a slightly different angle than the angle than the angle of the bevel left after honing.

    The fact that hanging strops work as well as they work is really all the proof necessary that a micro-bevel isn't a bad thing.

    doing a google search on cutting edge micro bevel will provide a lot of articles, diagrams, etc. Most are related to knife and tool edges but the principles and concepts are still quite similar.

  6. #15
    MOD and Giveaway Dude str8razor's Avatar
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    Robert,
    Your second bevel comments make sense to me. Some time ago I used to sharpen my knives with a 20 degree angle. Not to long ago I put on a second bevel of 25 degrees and the knives are considerably sharper plus this sharpness seems to last a lot longer. I remember reading somewhere that it is not a good idea to do this to razors with a hone because of stropping. I guess in order to get the second bevel with a hone one would have to put tape on the spine to increase the angle which I guess would be kind of a pain every time you honed.
    Your comments that the leather from a hanging strop puts on a second bevel would work a lot faster with paste on a hanging strop wouldn't it? So therefore paddle strops only strop the edge that is already there instead of putting on a second bevel but one with a cushion would put on a second bevel of microscopic size.
    if anything has been abnormal for a long enough period it then becomes normal.

  7. #16
    Robert Williams Custom Razors PapaBull's Avatar
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    Stropping is polishing and polishing is actually sharpening. It's wearing away metal at a very, very fine level. A pasted strop is more agressive but isn't really necessary, in my opinion. If the razor's edge is still rough, then a pasted strop helps, of course, but once the blade's edge has been polished, I think a pasted strop only accellerates the edge deterioration, making it require re-honing sooner.

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