Printable View
does hanging a strop offer any benifit?
I ordered one of tonys strops last week and am looking forward to getting it, up till now i have been using just a piece of leather that I lay flat on a table.
How come we hang the strops rather than just lay them on a flat surface?
Umm, just because, that's why! <g>
The leather needs to be taught to work properly. It can be glues dowm like on a paddle or a Hand American bench hone or hung up and pulled tight. laying on a table can work but it would depend on how well the leather lays flat without bunching up.
Tony
Trap,
There are a lot of ways to "hang" your strop, from using zip ties on a door knob to using a radiator clamp (which is what I do) on a door knob.
RT
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.
The real benefit that I see in hanging strops is that there is no hard surface on the other side of the leather to bang the razor's edge against. A hanging strop, pulled taught, still provides a 'flat' surface, but has a little give to prevent damage to the edge.
I have a paddle strop and it works fine, but I do need to be more careful when I use it.
X
Probably convenience and lack of space started it. Think of your barber shop not too much counter room to lay a piece of leather out.;)
The other thing with the counter top leather is that it can ripple up behind the blade and could ruin the edge.Quote:
Originally Posted by RichZ
X
Actually the reason to hang a strop is the same as why we do many things that we all do. Its the way it has always been done or its the way we were taught.
Barbers did it because, well its right convenient to where they are working and it looks cool doing it like going to a japanese restaurant and getting the cook prepare the meal at your table.
The freedom of whatever angle you are comfortable at stropping makes a hanging strop work at it's best.
Glen
I got Tony's strop today and it is a beauty! but I must say their is a learning curve to it. I found the flat piece of leather much easier to deal with, it was like honing only spine first.
But by golie, it does look a lot cooler to strop with a nice hanging strop so I am going to master it, or break blades trying!
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.
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 :cry:
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by AFDavis11
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.
http://straightrazorpalace.com/image...ze/strop_1.jpg
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.
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.
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.