Thread: Does rapid stropping really heat the razor?

I have read in a few places on SRP that one of the values of rapid stropping is that it heats the razor sufficiently to soften it and allow the edge to remodel. I am not a metallurgist but it seems to me that a temperature sufficient to allow that to happen would at the very least be uncomfortable to the touch. My stropping is not all that rapid -- I can do 50 roundtrips in about as many seconds without endangering the edge, the strop or my fingers. After I did that I rapidly placed the blade flat against my face and it barely felt warm. So my question is...can rapid stropping really heat the edge to any degree? Just wondering. Maybe I'm just not fast enough yet.

I'll be interested in some responses from fast stroppers, but I really don't think stropping does anything but remove debris (metal shavings if it was just honed, soap from the last shave, etc.). I don't think you can whip the blade over the strop in such a frenzy that it would heat up enough to alter the metal state.

I can't strop fast. Period. And I have been doing it for 2 1/2 years.

I am capable of very fast stropping though I normally use a moderate pace. I've stropped very fast 50 round trips and laid the full hollow against my cheek and I could not detect any temperature change .

I think if temperature effects anything, its the strop. Stropping is nothing more, or less than finely polishing the fine edge. That is all I have to say about that.

If anything got hot it would be the very edge which is microns thin and you wouldn't feel that. We have discussed this before and I don't remember what the outcome was. I just accept the fact stropping dresses the edge and leave it at that.

Good enough for me. Thanks.

It's an issue of turning Mechanical Energy to Thermal Energy. It happens at the point of contact because of the friction produced by the edge coming in contact with the strop. I really don't think it's something that we can measure because of how the heat is dissipated by the metal and the leather.
Yes, it's one of those Santa and Resting things.

I know this is cheating. But I used a wheel strop at 90-120 rpm. I think this is not as fast as my moderate stropping, but it warms the blade a little.

Originally Posted by Samuel

I know this is cheating. But I used a wheel strop at 90-120 rpm. I think this is not as fast as my moderate stropping, but it warms the blade a little.

I have never heard of a wheel strop, can you post a picture?

Eric.

How fast is fast? 30 strokes per minute? 60 strokes per minute?
How much pressure was used? Speed and pressure will determine how much heat is generated on the edge. I go with about 35 passes both ways, I have not had any issues with the edge.