The strop is the thing

I have been puzzling over why the sharpeners that I have used for razors have all worked well to create a shaving edge, when for others the type or grit rating of a stone seems to matter a great deal.

As an experiment, I tried different sharpening surfaces of increasingly coarser grit rating, eventually ending up with an old 1"x3" silicon carbide pocket stone of approximately 300 grit. As one might expect, the edge produced by the coarser grits were rougher, even though all of them when used with care produced arm-hair-popping edges.

However, after a moderate amount of careful and deliberate yet purposeful stropping on linen and leather the edge off even the coarsest of stones smoothed out considerably, providing a smooth and comfortable shave. It appears that just about any abrasive surface can be a good sharpener, but the strop is the thing that turns a sharp knife into a razor.

I have used that strop till i can't use it anymore and i still can not get the razor to cut any. most likely the operator.

Which is why most people that carry truely sharp knives strop them following the stones. I always did, way before I ever used a strop in a razor I used one on my field knives.

Walls, perhaps the razor is not sharp to begin, or you are rolling the razor edge on the strop. The latter is a common error with new shavers, and I did my first razor's edge in exactly that way.

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Originally Posted by JeffR

I have been puzzling over why the sharpeners that I have used for razors have all worked well to create a shaving edge, when for others the type or grit rating of a stone seems to matter a great deal.

As an experiment, I tried different sharpening surfaces of increasingly coarser grit rating, eventually ending up with an old 1"x3" silicon carbide pocket stone of approximately 300 grit. As one might expect, the edge produced by the coarser grits were rougher, even though all of them when used with care produced arm-hair-popping edges.

However, after a moderate amount of careful and deliberate yet purposeful stropping on linen and leather the edge off even the coarsest of stones smoothed out considerably, providing a smooth and comfortable shave. It appears that just about any abrasive surface can be a good sharpener, but the strop is the thing that turns a sharp knife into a razor.

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"Smooth" and "comfortable" are very subjective words. To help us calibrate your idea of "smooth" and "comfortable," have you ever had a razor honed by one of the reputable honers of the forum? If yes, how would you describe the shave with that/those razor/razors? If no, what is your typical honing progression for razors?

The reason I ask is that I have tried shaving off a lot of different hones, but I have never had a shave that I would describe as comfortable off anything lower in grit than my Naniwa 5k. I am thinking that perhaps our use of subjective words varies greatly.

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Originally Posted by holli4pirating

"Smooth" and "comfortable" are very subjective words. To help us calibrate your idea of "smooth" and "comfortable," have you ever had a razor honed by one of the reputable honers of the forum? If yes, how would you describe the shave with that/those razor/razors? If no, what is your typical honing progression for razors?

The reason I ask is that I have tried shaving off a lot of different hones, but I have never had a shave that I would describe as comfortable off anything lower in grit than my Naniwa 5k. I am thinking that perhaps our use of subjective words varies greatly.

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True, those are indeed subjective words. And by no means am I advocating using coarse stones when finer ones are available. It's entirely possible that I'm not very sensitive to less than optimum edges. I'm comparing the shave primarily to disposable Bic Sensitive razors, my favorite stainless Dovo and my next favorite Case Temperite honed to a very smooth and comfortable edge by a fairly reputable honemeister named holli4pirating. ;)

The Bic edge is of course the smoothest, being coated with Teflon or something. The Temperite is very smooth, and had proved it's sharpness when I got a cut from it's square point. The Dovo was good from whomever honed it but improved with stropping. The experimental razor, my trusty but middling-quality Fromm shaved without tugging or rasping my face, but was not at level of smoothness of the other razors.

Bear in mind that I shave using the best prep I have time for and use the shallowest blade angle I can along with scything strokes. I glide the edge with as light a pressure that I can that still shaves acceptably close. I would probably pay for it in razor burn if I applied any extra pressure. Perhaps the honemeister-quality edge is more forgiving in that regard?

My point is, even with a coarse edge off a stone a strop can make a dramatic improvement to an edge. That is still true when a galoot like myself is doing the stropping.

Stropping affects and refines the edge through a process called burnishing, so it will smooth out a rough edge. The idea with using higher grit stones is that the striations on the edge are as small as possible when you go to the strop!

I've gone down to 3k Naniwa and I must say that was about the limit of how low I'll go.

I could be misinterpreting what is happening, but it seems like the untreated cotton canvas strop that I'm using is abrading in addition to burnishing. It seems to act like a very fine hone in some ways. The leather strop does seem to be mostly a burnisher.

I haven't looked at the edge through a microscope, but I also suspect that the edge is getting convexed, if only slightly during the stropping. I try to sort of just fractionally lift the weight off of the spine during the stroke. My Dovo has gone without any other type of honing for six months or so, mostly only on the leather and still seems to have stayed at the same level sharpness during that time.

Jeff, I tend to agree with the gist of what you are saying but I do not agree with some of the terms you are tossing about :)

A couple of very smart fellows MParker & AFDavis have done a ton of Strop experimenting in the past and basically confirm your conclusions , but not the convexing theory...

This basically comes down to "A sharp edge is easier to maintain then create" :D

Stropping really is King, and "stropping for effect" as I like to call it can hold a fine edge much longer than most people realize...

I have gone down to 1k to prove a point about Sharpness -vs- Smoothness and razors do get below the .50 micron level (hair cutting) of sharpness at a way lower grit then most people realize, but I would never make a habit of shaving at that level regardless of the amount of non-pasted stropping...

Strop on !!!