Thread: Stropping is King

Originally Posted by Kees

After digesting the gist of this thread I have been experimenting with my stropping. The result is that my razors stay keen much longer. They pass the HHT time after time, however halfway shaving my face I start to feel more irritation than I had with the same razors fresh from the hone.

So IMHO the edge does start to deteriorate after a while. Has anyone had a similar experience?

Yes, I need to do a quick refresh (3 swipes on the Swaty every few weeks). To keep the same keeneness when I strop. I think it has to do with how sharp I make the edge. I have always had skin issues, and I found that the sharpest possible edge is the best solution. Unfortunately, it makes for a weak edge, which is not durable. With my skin sensitivity I can feel reductions in sharpness that may not affect others.

Originally Posted by Joe Lerch

Yes, I need to do a quick refresh (3 swipes on the Swaty every few weeks). To keep the same keeneness when I strop. I think it has to do with how sharp I make the edge. I have always had skin issues, and I found that the sharpest possible edge is the best solution. Unfortunately, it makes for a weak edge, which is not durable. With my skin sensitivity I can feel reductions in sharpness that may not affect others.

I'm very new at this straight thing, but my limited experience is that the edges I finish on .25 diamond paste need a touch up more frequently than the ones where I've stopped on the.25.

I'm actually thinking of getting some .5 chrome oxide to see if that provides the combination of sharpness/smoothness/edge durability that works best for me.

While I don't see myself going for 1/2 a year without refreshing, this thread is very interesting and has resulted in improvements in my stropping technique.

Originally Posted by mparker762

Scott claims his strop isn't getting gray from accumulated swarf, though it's possible he's cleaning it frequently enough not to notice. My old Bismark's linen side definitely got gray, though I cleaned it along with the leather side every few months with saddle soap so it never got too bad. My handamerican strop doesn't have a linen side, but the leather is still darkening with use, though whether from swarf or residual oil from the blade I can't say.

I would expect the linnen to get dirty. After all part of the reason for using it is to clean the edge to protect the leather. If you're wondering what's on the strop, one thing you can do is use a microscope. You may be able to see metal particles or grit.

Since we're speaking of the linen side, I'm skeptical that the linen side really heats up the edge. At least on my old bismark, the linen side had less draw than the leather side, and less draw means there's less friction, and the heat from friction is the only thing that could heat up the edge.

I'm not. There's usually some reason to the madness that barbers have been practicing for ages. And their claims usually carry some validity. It's hard to compare abrasiveness, because the linnen side is so rough that it's bouncing the razor around, and it's hard to tell what kind of friction you have. On the other hand, the bouncing could have a warming effect. We know how hot metal can get from repeated bending.

Originally Posted by suzuki

I'm very new at this straight thing, but my limited experience is that the edges I finish on .25 diamond paste need a touch up more frequently

That's what I mean. It's common sharpening knowledge that there's a tradeoff between sharpness and durability. I would expect a continuum of durability from a barely acceptable edge to a wire edge, and the closer you move to the wire edge the more frequently you'll need to refresh. Like many other things in shaving personal preference is the bottom line.