Can stropping be done before hand?

[eclipse75]

I read that the edge of the blade "grows" after a bit. I also read from one thread that you can strop all of your straights at once and then just use them when called for. If I were to strop a blade, then wouldn't it have "grown" when I use it 2 days later? If ya can, please set me straight.

 

[Koss]

Er... what? Its an inanimate object

 

[eclipse75]

thats just what i read. i read that the edge of the blade "grows" or changes shape. iono..

 

[TstebinsB]

I read that the edge of the blade "grows" after a bit. I also read from one thread that you can strop all of your straights at once and then just use them when called for. If I were to strop a blade, then wouldn't it have "grown" when I use it 2 days later? If ya can, please set me straight.

You probably read it here. I'm no metallurgist and I admit that I don't fully understand the theory but I don't agree with the concept of "growing." I think it's bunkum, to be honest. I don't see how "the cutting edge stretches ('grows') spontaneously within 24 hours" or how "it stretches and again becomes extremely fine." (I'm not going to get into the different types of energy.) If anything, the micro-serrations of the edge become misaligned after every shave, causing the edge to lose some of it's sharpness and/or smoothness. No waiting period will change that. You must strop to align the edge once again, regaining some sharpness and smoothness.

As for using razors that were stropped at an earlier time, I don't agree with that either. Immediately after you put the razor away, the edge will start to rust. It isn't noticeable to the eye but it's happening on a molecular level of biochemistry - the interaction among lipids, proteins, etc. in your skin and the elements in your water. Stropping right before use removes that latent rust. If you live in a dry environment, then you might not notice a difference in your shave because the rust buildup is minimal. However, in a wet climate, stropping many hours before your shave will make your shave suffer. I recommend stropping right before shaving and a few times afterward, the former for removing rust that has built up and the latter for decreasing the amount of future rust you'll have to remove.

 

[gollum83]

I'm not exactly a metallurgist but I have worked with metals in my chemistry research in the past, and it does sound like a load of horse manure if you ask me. There's no way the metal will grow. I mean how can it? There's a finite amount of atoms in that steel, iron and otherwise, and the number of each type of atom won't change. It's simple thermodynamics. Matter cannot be created nor destroyed.

As for rust, sure that will happen over time. Although its chemical not biochemical, just FYI. Biochemistry deals with carbon organic molecules that crawl. Steel is neither organic nor is it alive in any sense.

 

[Starcar]

From DOVO.com

http://www.dovo.com/_english/interessantes.html#1

5. The straight razor I bought a short time ago no longer shaves properly. Do I have to whet it, and how often is this necessary?

DOVO straight razors are whetted in the factory for use (whetting on leather by hand). If you own a suitable strop, you should nevertheless take into account that the razor must first "rest" after use. After the razor has been carefully rinsed and dried, it should not be used again for at least 24 - 48 hours because the fine "fin" on the cutting edge straightens up again extremely slowly. If the razor is stropped too soon (or stropped incorrectly by moving it backwards and forwards without turning it over), the "fin" which is necessary for a close shave breaks off. Between six and fifteen shaves are possible without stropping in between.

As a test for my own benefit I have gone 6 shaves without stropping in between and found little if any difference in shave comfort. ( ymmv )

That being said, I still now strop before every shave.

Try it for yourself and see if you can tell the difference.

 

[gollum83]

I'm convincing that rest the fin stuff is just bull. Nothing more than a ploy to get you to buy more than one straight. Not that there's anything wrong with owning multiple straights, but still.

 

[Starcar]

I'm convincing that rest the fin stuff is just bull. Nothing more than a ploy to get you to buy more than one straight. Not that there's anything wrong with owning multiple straights, but still.

+1 on that!

 

[eclipse75]

hmm self-replicating machine possibly? part shaving utility, part death machine working to slowly take over the world?

 

[Koss]

hmm self-replicating machine possibly? part shaving utility, part death machine working to slowly take over the world?

Strops are a thing of the past... with all the new nanotechnology! nanobots hone in a perfect razors edge! Atom by atom!

They are like sea monkeys! Just add water!

 

[TstebinsB]

As for rust, sure that will happen over time. Although its chemical not biochemical, just FYI. Biochemistry deals with carbon organic molecules that crawl. Steel is neither organic nor is it alive in any sense.

I should know better. I thought about the organic material left over from one's skin and mistakenly jumped from chemical to biochemical. Where was I going?

 

[SiBurning]

I read that the edge of the blade "grows" after a bit. I also read from one thread that you can strop all of your straights at once and then just use them when called for. If I were to strop a blade, then wouldn't it have "grown" when I use it 2 days later? If ya can, please set me straight.

Creep and stress relaxation are well documented, although creep isn't much understood. Creep is the tendency for metals to distort towards more unstable formations. Maybe you've seen pictures of old solder joints where pin-like protrusions have developed. The effect is significant at temperatures near half the melting point (measured in Kelvin), which for lead solder is around room temperature. Stress relaxation is the tendency of metal to distort in a way that reduces stress. The most notable examples are outdoor telephone and electric cables. Stress relaxation is what happens to a razor. Forming, honing, and stropping all stress the metal. Over time, the metal will relax its shape to undo those stresses. The numbers are very small. In sub-micron thin pieces of normal hard metals, the effect is something like 1% in 11 years. The same effect would restore the edge to its original formation after being distorted from shaving.

Whether that's enough to effect how a razor shaves is something you should try for yourself.

It certainly fits the observed behavior of metals for a razor to return to its original formation after the stress from shaving. It should also try to undo the stresses created when it was formed and honed. The research that says 24-48 hours is enough to restore the edge and undo a strop is decades old, and seems to have been repeated since with similar results. I'm trying to be careful to avoid giving an opinion here, because like most of us members, I'm not qualified, and am much more tempted to just bust out laughing.

OTOH, stropping will help remove any rust that's formed, so that seems to be in favor of doing it just before you shave.

 

[tsolo]

Strops are a thing of the past... with all the new nanotechnology! nanobots hone in a perfect razors edge! Atom by atom!

They are like sea monkeys! Just add water!

but, my razors are all pre-nanobot era.

 

[Seraphim]

From DOVO.com

http://www.dovo.com/_english/interessantes.html#1

5. The straight razor I bought a short time ago no longer shaves properly. Do I have to whet it, and how often is this necessary?

DOVO straight razors are whetted in the factory for use (whetting on leather by hand). If you own a suitable strop, you should nevertheless take into account that the razor must first "rest" after use. After the razor has been carefully rinsed and dried, it should not be used again for at least 24 - 48 hours because the fine "fin" on the cutting edge straightens up again extremely slowly. If the razor is stropped too soon (or stropped incorrectly by moving it backwards and forwards without turning it over), the "fin" which is necessary for a close shave breaks off. Between six and fifteen shaves are possible without stropping in between.

As a test for my own benefit I have gone 6 shaves without stropping in between and found little if any difference in shave comfort. ( ymmv )

That being said, I still now strop before every shave.

Try it for yourself and see if you can tell the difference.

Is that from the same document that says the razor comes "shave ready" from the factory?


HA HA HA HA HA!!!!

Who says those Germans don't have a great sense of humor!

 

[gollum83]

Who says those Germans don't have a great sense of humor!

The British? Most of Europe? Americans? The entire world? The Universe? Who, man, who?

 

[Seraphim]

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rD4roXEY8hk[/YOUTUBE]

 

[gollum83]

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rD4roXEY8hk[/YOUTUBE]

That reminds me of this one time when I was in college. I was down in Chicago for a research symposium and I went out drinking downtown with a few buddies the first night we were there. Anyway, we're in this bar and we're all like okay where to we go next? Well a few of us had this brilliant idea to do rock, paper, scissors to determine who made the call. So we start, you know, "Rock, Paper..."

Well, one of our friends we were out with was a German exchange student, and she looked absolutely shocked we were doing this. Bug-eyed she ask in this very hushed, but frantic voice, "What are you doing?"

We're all like "What? What are you doing?"

At this point she was getting a little red in the face, and said, "You can't do that!"

"Do what?"

Then she did the motion we were doing, but sideways and very, very cautiously, like she was worried someone would see her doing this.

"What?"

"You know! Doesn't that mean, you know? Go out back and..." Then she did the motion again. Needless to say, we were rolling on the floor, gasping for breath after that.

Apparently, pounding your fist on your open hand has a more nefarious, not to mention erotic, meaning over in Germany.