Thread: To strop or not to strop. That is the question.

stropping is a must for me to just to smooth the edge

forgot to say i only do 20 passes

I've seen magnified pictures of blades before and after shaving. The edge looks like a serrated knife, or teeth. Shaving causes them to bend. Stropping re aligns them. Stropping is also non evasive as far as honing goes. Nice soft leather each day, vs a stone....? Of course you can shave off a stone without stropping.

I've touched up a blade on a Swaty or Escher mid shave, I've even stropped mid shave. You'd be surprised how much difference proper stropping can make.

Stropping is pretty much essential. It's not an option imho.

Well done. I dont need to strop, but why shouldn't I ? The answer is if I am a poor stropper! I'm actually pretty decent at it, but my point is that you have proven that you can improve an edge. That's important! Some people don't improve an edge; do they question themselves? NO, they don't! They question the honing or the sharpness test, or whatever. And there is nothing wrong with being bad at stropping, just try and work around the problem until you get better. Strop lighter, and strop less! But as the edge becomes harsh, or dull, start working it more; but do it sloooooooowly. Then as you get better, you'll see better results. When all your efforts at stropping fail, hone. Do it with the same care you stropped, slowly, and search for and use some method to identify improvement. It's really hard and REALLY subtle, with either tool. Also, don't forget, it's the quality of the shave over the apparent sharpness.

Originally Posted by mapleleafalumnus

Occasionally, I will touch up my blade on my Swaty mid-shave without taking it to the strop again. I presume this would not count as "honing without stropping"?

I would disagree, but it's up to you to define it. To me, if more people accepted that a Swaty WAS honing, and that a 4k was friggen edge terrorism, we'd have a lot more successful beginners.

To strop. That is the answer.

Do you mean "To strop" is the answer, or do you mean "That" is the answer?

James.

Originally Posted by Jimbo

Do you mean "To strop" is the answer, or do you mean "That" is the answer?

James.

"That" is entirely a different question!

"That" is what I thought.

James.

Originally Posted by ironsidegnr

I'm actually a little surprised by the results.

I just did my cheek, but could have easily finished my whole face without stropping the blade.
It still plowed through the whiskers like a hot knife. I did strop it after ding my cheek, just to make it as good as it could be.

I must say though, the 12k edge alone was fairly acceptable.

Tonight, I did a full shave with a freshly honed razor (12k Naniwa finisher). I did three passes and I must say, I was quite surprised. The shave was fantastic! There was a hint of sting when I applied my after shave balm, but not excessive.

I am not sure I would say that one should NOT strop, but I might try this again next time I hone to gauge the quality of my honing...at very least it is an additional data point