Thread: Stropping technique

To me it seems most SRP members recommend the spine stays in full contact with the leather all the time. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
However I never managed to shave more than 5 times before having to hone again. Only my problem areas (chin, moustache and area around Adam's apple)get two passes, cheeks etc need only one pass per shave.

Lately I started to strop with the spine hovering 1-2 millimeters (one millimeter is 1/25th of an inch) above the leather applying very light pressure. That way I get an edge that is much keener and lasts longer. And it takes only a few passes on my loom strop.

Any thoughts or observations? Please let me know!

It's a very good way to round off the edge. A millimeter probably isn't enough if you use a light touch, but a little farther off, or a little too much slack in the strop, or a little too much pressure, and it's back to the hone for more than just a little refreshment.

Originally Posted by mparker762

It's a very good way to round off the edge.

Correct me if I am wrong but as I understand it stropping does round off the edge anyway.
My problem is that I do not keep a keen edge when stropping with the spine in touch with the leather all the time. I presume I am doing something wrong when stropping the way I should but I tried varying the pressure from hardly any to quite a lot, I tried varying the tension of the leather but my results are lousy unless I lift the spine a few millimeters off the leather and apply little pressure.

I guess that way I produce a second bevel. It works for me but I keep having that uncomfortable feeling in the back of my mind that I am doing something wrong when I strop the way I think I should i.e. with the spine on the leather.

Any suggestions to improve my stropping technique would be most welcome.

stropping is done to ALIGN the steel on the very edge of the razor. i think it was robert williams (papabull) that posted pics under the microscope in which he showed the vary'n patterns on the edge of the razor as he honed different grits and then stropped.

microserations in the metal cause the edge to basically bend away from alignment. alignment puts everything straight causing a uniform edge and thus a sharper edge. the microserations put basically tiny tiny gaps(metal bending away from straight) in the edge of the blade that if you dont strop them straight they are pushed further out of alignment by use.

you hone to sharpen the blade all the way up thru pastes if thats what you are using. you strop inorder to align the steel just before use that causes an even sharper (more perfect, no gap) edge.

before stropping ------------/------\------\------/ ...
after stropping ----------------------------------

i would say that pulling the leather TIGHT during stropping is number 1 priority. if the leather is loose it will bow as you strop and that cuases rounding of the blade no matter how light or hard you strop. rounding meaning you have gone past the straight alignment and are flattening the edge. also light stropping is beneficial especially when starting, although i have heard some folks that use a bit more pressure but they all express the necessity of tight leather. lay the blade flat becuase the larger the angle will bring u back to the rounding of the edge.


thats my take on the process.

~J

Originally Posted by Kees

To me it seems most SRP members recommend the spine stays in full contact with the leather all the time. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
However I never managed to shave more than 5 times before having to hone again. Only my problem areas (chin, moustache and area around Adam's apple)get two passes, cheeks etc need only one pass per shave.

Lately I started to strop with the spine hovering 1-2 millimeters (one millimeter is 1/25th of an inch) above the leather applying very light pressure. That way I get an edge that is much keener and lasts longer. And it takes only a few passes on my loom strop.

Any thoughts or observations? Please let me know!

My thought is, if it works for you then do it.

I would say that if you are only getting five shaves before having to rehone again either you have the toughest beard known to man or your razor is only marginally sharp and you need some more time on the 8K or whatever you are using to increase the sharpness of the blade. As far as lifting the spine off the edge I realize everyone has their own way of doing things and I would be the first to say if it works for you then do it but that proceedure is a real no-no. I don't think you'll find a single peson alive or dead that would advise you to do it that way.

Remember that stropping does not sharpen the edge. It just dresses it and reshapes the fins. So I'm not really sure what your doing. By the book you should be deteriorating the edge.

JSCOTT and THEBIGSPENDER have it right. Stropping before a shave pushes the microserrations back together to make the edge look narrower (sharper). It does not sharpen the edge, although a lot of stropping may smooth down the scratch lines. Professor Verhoeven's experiments found that leather stropping after honing did not affect sharpness.

You didn't describe enough to tell what you're doing, but lifting the spine can only damage the edge, although the small amount you do probably won't hurt, but I don't understand how it could make a difference in how often you hone. Normal stropping does not dull the edge. When stropping does not totally restore sharpness, refresh the edge. This can avoid honing indefinitely.

I don't know why you're concerned about it. If it's working better for you, do it.

Originally Posted by jscott

i would say that pulling the leather TIGHT during stropping is number 1 priority. if the leather is loose it will bow as you strop and that cuases rounding of the blade no matter how light or hard you strop.

I used to have the strop very tight but got poor results, even loosening it a bit did not give satisfactory results. If I watch the video of Lynn stropping I notice the strop bowing considerably when he strops. Effectively I reckon that his blade on the video has a similar angle with the strop as my blade when I lift the spine 2 mm off the leather.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

I would say that if you are only getting five shaves before having to rehone again either you have the toughest beard known to man or your razor is only marginally sharp and you need some more time on the 8K or whatever you are using to increase the sharpness of the blade.

Remember that stropping does not sharpen the edge. It just dresses it and reshapes the fins. So I'm not really sure what your doing. By the book you should be deteriorating the edge.

Originally Posted by Joe Lerch

JSCOTT and THEBIGSPENDER have it right. Stropping before a shave pushes the microserrations back together to make the edge look narrower (sharper). It does not sharpen the edge, although a lot of stropping may smooth down the scratch lines. Professor Verhoeven's experiments found that leather stropping after honing did not affect sharpness.

You didn't describe enough to tell what you're doing, but lifting the spine can only damage the edge, although the small amount you do probably won't hurt, but I don't understand how it could make a difference in how often you hone. Normal stropping does not dull the edge. When stropping does not totally restore sharpness, refresh the edge. This can avoid honing indefinitely.

I find that after honing and stropping as I am supposed to do my razors only pass the HHT with stiff hairs or bristle from an old brush. Now that I strop with the spine a few millimeters off the leather my razors pass the HHT like nobody's business, both straight from the hone and shave after shave, even with very thin hairs! So, IMHO stropping can make a huge difference in sharpness.

I would agree that theoretically you might be creating a secondary bevel when you raise the spine. The other explanation is that while honing you have somehow either raised the spine or rounded the edge. The one thing I have noticed when I give a video honing session is that people hone to fast. This will almost always lead to a lifting of the spine and result in a slightly rounded edge.
I would suggest going back to the hones for a short while and flatten out that bevel.

My two cents,

Randy, thanks for your comments.

When I hone I hold the razor's scales and shank in one hand and guide the blade with 2 fingers of the other hand over the hone, thereby ensuring a continued contact of the spine with the hone. Those guiding fingers hardly apply any pressure at all, they're just there because I find it very hard to hone with only one hand as that invariably results in overhoning the heel and underhoning the toe.

I am puzzled myself by the fact that I get such poor results when I strop the way it should be done / the way everyone else does it. That's why I started this thread.