That sounds reasonable. Be careful with your pressure. I keep it very light to avoid rolling that fragile edge.
Stropping the Night Before vs the Morning of the Shave?
- Thread starter Lord NSIC
- Start date
Stropping should be done until the blade is 'done' - like honing. Feedback matters. It's not lap counting, it's edge conditioning to completion.
Whatever the number is, is fine. Doing more won't hurt. I think if I took a pool of everyone I know that really knows edges, the strop count would probably wind up being 50-60 on leather, or thereabouts, most days. Because when they do count, that's about what it turns out to be, more or less.
Someone, a while back, mapped edge development on leather visually, IIRC they saw very little improvement, but still some, after 50 laps or so. But up to 50, there was a lot of improvement to be seen along the way.
Length of the strop, strop/hide surface type, width of the stop, pressure, slack, and starting edge condition matter. There really can't be a one-size-fits-all scenario though.
I don't count stropping laps, I go by feel. But, if I had to guess, my lap counts are probably over 60 most days. I use linen before - it's fast though, not a lot of time on the linen. The one strop I use most is a 3" horsehide, textured, I keep it taught.
I don't baby it, I let the steel feel the hide, that is what it is supposed to do. It is not weight of the blade pressure, more than that. If I want to do a final polish strop session I might go that light on a different leather though.
A lot of guys strop too light and aren't getting the full impact of the leather on the bevel. Better to longer with too-light pressure than to go too heavy though. It's a goldilocks sorta thing, pressure's gotta be juuuuuusssst right. And if the session is too short on too light pressure, the edge suffers.
Anyway - the thing about all of the stropping the night before or just before shaving stuff is - it doesn't matter. Try it both ways, see what you like. There is no right or wrong. If stropping the night before is your jam, then jam with it. What I or anyone else does, doesn't really matter. Things have to be experienced, first hand. That's the only way to know what you like best. I like to strop before shaving. I don't need a reason why really, I just enjoy the ritual that way. If someone thinks it is better to do it the day before, fine by me, but what is better for person A isn't always better for person B.
Whatever the number is, is fine. Doing more won't hurt. I think if I took a pool of everyone I know that really knows edges, the strop count would probably wind up being 50-60 on leather, or thereabouts, most days. Because when they do count, that's about what it turns out to be, more or less.
Someone, a while back, mapped edge development on leather visually, IIRC they saw very little improvement, but still some, after 50 laps or so. But up to 50, there was a lot of improvement to be seen along the way.
Length of the strop, strop/hide surface type, width of the stop, pressure, slack, and starting edge condition matter. There really can't be a one-size-fits-all scenario though.
I don't count stropping laps, I go by feel. But, if I had to guess, my lap counts are probably over 60 most days. I use linen before - it's fast though, not a lot of time on the linen. The one strop I use most is a 3" horsehide, textured, I keep it taught.
I don't baby it, I let the steel feel the hide, that is what it is supposed to do. It is not weight of the blade pressure, more than that. If I want to do a final polish strop session I might go that light on a different leather though.
A lot of guys strop too light and aren't getting the full impact of the leather on the bevel. Better to longer with too-light pressure than to go too heavy though. It's a goldilocks sorta thing, pressure's gotta be juuuuuusssst right. And if the session is too short on too light pressure, the edge suffers.
Anyway - the thing about all of the stropping the night before or just before shaving stuff is - it doesn't matter. Try it both ways, see what you like. There is no right or wrong. If stropping the night before is your jam, then jam with it. What I or anyone else does, doesn't really matter. Things have to be experienced, first hand. That's the only way to know what you like best. I like to strop before shaving. I don't need a reason why really, I just enjoy the ritual that way. If someone thinks it is better to do it the day before, fine by me, but what is better for person A isn't always better for person B.
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