Thread: Help... I think I stropped my razor dull!

Originally Posted by Jimbo

We did an experiment (more an observational study, really) a while back on the speed of stropping and how that equated to the shave. Admittedly there were only two of us and the observations were very qualitative in nature, but one of us was AFDavis so I think that adds some weight to it!

In any event, we found that there seemed to be a minimum speed below which stropping is fairly ineffectual. However, this speed was surprisingly slow - cannot remember exactly what it was now but I seem to recall it was slower than one would reasonably expect a beginner to be able to achieve, other things being equal. On the other end of the scale, it appeared that there was a maximum speed beyond which the edge/shave did not appear to be appreciably better. This maximum speed was not as fast as some people might expect it to be - again, I cannot recall exact details but I think Alan suggested something in the order of one stroke per second, or thereabouts.

Anyway, the point is that I *think* (suspect, conjecture, hypothesise, whatever...) speed does not play a major role in good stropping per se. My theory is that speed (that is, speed without killing the strop! ) can be indicative of a better stropping technique and it is this stropping technique that matters in terms of stropping efficacy. In other words, speed may indicate you have your technique going well but the converse is definitely not true: good technique does not necessarily mean you're a fast stropper.

So what I am trying to say in my typically long-winded way is that you should concentrate on your stropping technique and not on the speed. Technique will eventually drive speed increases, but speed in and of itself will not improve the edges off the strop.

James.

Dang James - that's really cool!! Crazy cool actually. Please tell me you got video! If not, maybe you should re-create the experiment and post it on the Wiki as I ended up kind of selling myself on the speed thing lol... sigh. If I can help at all - let me know - and thanks for the input.

david

Well, followed advice "Wax On/Wax Off)

I think is was a combination shave angle and number of stropping.

I did the 30 Linen/ 60 Leather and it seems to have tuned up the edge.

I guess I just didn't "work it" like I should have.

Thanks to all for your insight.

Originally Posted by earcutter

Good Luck!!

I might be out on left field here, but I found stropping slowly to be just about useless for me. As I got better and got to the point where I could strop quickly, I found that stropping was actually helpful. Maybe I just learnt how to strop properly by the time I got quick lol?

How did it turn out for you?

Originally Posted by 2005xfr

Well, followed advice "Wax On/Wax Off)

I think is was a combination shave angle and number of stropping.

I did the 30 Linen/ 60 Leather and it seems to have tuned up the edge.

I guess I just didn't "work it" like I should have.

Thanks to all for your insight.

Nice!! Love a story with a good ending lol!!

2005, Its not uncommon for a noob to dull his razor from stropping. I excelled at it. 'Ate 5 strops. Dulled more edges than my memory will allow me to recall. You're learning. You'll get there.

One thing I loved about Glen's 3/11 beginner's tips thread was the technique of laying a hanging strop on a hard, flat surface, taking the requirement for keeping tension out of the equation. Its a thread worth going through more than once. I sure have. I found it relieving to see Glen's strops w/ many sanding marks - even the pros make mistakes. If he can nick a strop, I don't feel quite as bad.

If you need a hand w/ edges, I'd be happy to help - just the cost to mail it back to you. This is where its handy to have a 2nd blade so you're still shaving while one is out having an edge refreshed.

Keep going - the stropping gets easier.

I've been waiting for SirStropALot to comment here...

Originally Posted by earcutter

Dang James - that's really cool!! Crazy cool actually. Please tell me you got video! If not, maybe you should re-create the experiment and post it on the Wiki as I ended up kind of selling myself on the speed thing lol... sigh. If I can help at all - let me know - and thanks for the input.

david

Sorry David, but we never got around to doing a video. The stropping speed experiment thread is somewhere in the stropping section I guess, if you ever want to check it out.

You might not be wrong about the speed - the whole reason we did the experiment in the first place was that I was the same - I thought the frictional heat on the very thin edge may in fact help align it better or make it more malleable when stropping, and therefore that speed would help in this. But based on what we did (and again let me stress it was not highly rigorous although it was pretty well controlled for what we were doing) it seems that if there is indeed an effect of speed it is undetectable to the naked face!

James.

Originally Posted by pinklather

One thing I loved about Glen's 3/11 beginner's tips thread was the technique of laying a hanging strop on a hard, flat surface, taking the requirement for keeping tension out of the equation.

That's also one reason for (good quality) paddle and bench strops.


2005xfr, glad to see it worked out for you. The common understanding is that stropping on leather re-aligns the edge after it has been microscopically (for lack of a better word) dulled by cutting through stubble. I personally doubt there's such a thing as 'over-stropping' and that when everything is re-aligned, there's no improvement. I have found though that there is a threshold of laps, a minimum. In my experience, it takes around 40-60 laps on a good strop to achieve such re-alignment (or if it is something else, a good result). So if your technique is good, I seriously doubt that it's possible to make 'too many laps', yet understropping is possible.

I also believe that stropping is an underestimated aspect of getting a great shaving edge. I have tried on occasion to shave without stropping and NONE of those shaves were acceptable, resulting in pulling and irritation.

I think that smooth, confident and consistent strokes, whether on hone or strop, are what leads to success. When you have those qualities, a little speed comes with the territory. It doesn't work the other way around.

A paddle strop does solve the issue of strop tension. It also takes out most of the deflection as far as I can tell. I'm not sure if that really matters, but it's worth mentioning. I have at times suspected that the lack of deflection is harming my result when using a paddle strop. The last time I honed, I just left the tape on before going to the paddle (plain leather).

Michael

For me, pushing the razor's edge down into the leather while stropping results in a dramatically sharper and smoother blade than if I strop lightly and tentatively.

In my video on the Main page, the upper video of the two, I routinely begin stropping at the correct pace and then speed up from there. So in all my videos the proper speed is when I am going the slowest.