Thread: Using water to warm up the razor before stropping

I think the temperature change in the blade from a warm or hot water rinse is relatively small compared to the errors associated with the human element (stropping technique) and the sample population. Compound these issues with the tester bias, and lack of calibrated testing to ensure any meaningful and quantifiable results, and I think this notion may never be proven (unless for some reason a person wanted to test it in a lab...and getting funding for that might be difficult)

Simply put, my ability to strop consistently and gauge sharpness AND meaningfully compare it to a perceived sharpness hours prior is not nearly constrained enough to say anything on this subject that would amount to more than a hunch/suspicion/prejudice.

As always, YMMV

It feels to me that my razor stropped immediately after shaving has less draw and is smoother than when I stropped it immediately before shaving. The razor had been rinsed several times under hot water and wiped dry. I will have to try a hot water rinse before shaving to see whether this makes any difference. This is using a 2.5 TM linen/latigo strop.

After storage overnight, the previously smooth razor from the evening before no longer exhibits the lighter smoother draw that it had immediately after shaving.

Do you keep your strop in the bathroom?? If yes, then could the strop rather than the razor be the cause. Moist strop vs dry strop?

Originally Posted by crouton976

But the real question is...

Can you load some CrOx onto the wooden furniture of an AK and strop effectively with it?

probably could use the sling.

Either way, heating the razor could potentially mess with the temper.

Originally Posted by ChopperStyle

Either way, heating the razor could potentially mess with the temper.

not going to happen with the hottest tap water.

Guess I'll have to take your word for it.

Originally Posted by ChopperStyle

Either way, heating the razor could potentially mess with the temper.

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Most blades are tempered around the 1300 degree mark. Temp varies with the type of steel so hot tapwater is around 140 degrees and will not damage the blade temper in any way.

To the original post, I believe stropping removes micro corrosion on the edge. I believe that's it, really, nothing more or nothing less. I believe the purpose of stropping on webbing is simply to remove debris so that that debris does not impregnate the leather of the strop. Using the webbing post shaving removes debris too.

In regards to using water to remove the glue from the tape post honing, I myself use eucalyptus oil. I also use eucalyptus oil after stropping to clean and preserve my razor. The only time my razors are ever subjected to water is when honing. Of course they get moist from the lather during shaving, but I never rinse them, I always wipe on a moist face cloth. The reason I do this (rather than rinsing) is simply that I want to negate as much as possible water getting in the pivot area or between the scales.

Originally Posted by mrsell63

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Most blades are tempered around the 1300 degree mark. Temp varies with the type of steel so hot tapwater is around 140 degrees and will not damage the blade temper in any way.

You are thinking of heat treating, I think. Heat treating hardens the steel and it happens with most steels when you heat it til a magnet won't stick to it, then quench it in oil or water depending on the steel. Tempering softens it back up just a little so it isn't brittle and you can do that in your oven that you cook in. I have it on good authority that tempering a razor is done at around 340 degrees depending on the steel. That's farenheit BTW. Water boils at 212 degrees at sea level and lower temps at higher levels. Hot tap water should never be over scalding temperature and 140 is really hot... my Dad always sets our water heaters to 118 degrees or so. You waste a lot of BTU just keeping the pipes hot when nobody is using it and 118 degrees is as hot as anybody in our house can stand. 118 degree water is a lot hotter than 118 degree air because hot water conducts to the skin more efficiently. But anyway in principle you are right... hot water can't mess with the temper. I helped grind a couple of razors the other day and our warning temp was when it was too hot to touch comfortably. When you mess up the temper, you get a color change like straw yellow or tan or blue or violet. If you don't even have the faintest color, your temper is still good. Scuse a newb for talking out of turn but yeah any razor or any other steel cutlery is hot water safe LOL how else could you put a kitchen knife in the dishwasher? Feel free to boil your razor LOL! Except maybe the scales will get soft or something.

But as for the original question, I think actually the difference is heating up the STROP, not the razor. When you heat the strop you make it more flexible and it has more draw so it feels diferent. As for the razor, I think it should be stropped at the same temperature that it is used for shaving. Period. So if there are any temperature induced changes in the edge with just a few degrees, which I kind of doubt, they are not an issue. Then again, it probably doesn't hurt anything, either so if it feels good, do it. Otherwise don't bother. Hey, its just shaving, you know, right? Right.