Thread: confessions of a blade...

I think something like this post was started but was never finished. I kind of shorten things a little and actually did a lot of stropping.. I really just think its cool looking. They are listed in order.

After Honing, After 50 pulls on plain felt, 50 pulls on a latigo paddle shave then 50 more, 100 pulls on paddle shave then 100 more.

figured i would redo this one...

After Honing



After 50 pulls on plain felt



50 pulls on a latigo paddle shave then 50 more



100 pulls on paddle shave then 100 more



I will keep this thread updated as I continue to strop and shave... Stropping is king as I have read on here several times... I am hoping to show why..

It's very difficult to tell from photos like that because the slightest change in angle or light makes massive differences in the photos. However, thanks for your efforts they are still cool.

This is a great idea, and I hope to do the same thing soon on my own (I picked up a scope, but not USB. I'm working on a setup so I can take pics with it though).

Can I make one request: Can you make the pics consistent in angle, lighting, background? From the little bit of time I've gotten to play around with my scope I've noticed that the blade looks significantly different under different lighting conditions. Consistency would help to highlight the affects of honing/stropping, etc.

Thanks!

Can you also tell us what stones you used & what magnification we are seeing ?

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

It's very difficult to tell from photos like that because the slightest change in angle or light makes massive differences in the photos. However, thanks for your efforts they are still cool.

While I do agree with you on the slightest changes, I used my SLR and macro set up for these, and the camera stayed stationery on my tripod and I just slipped the blade on the paddle strop into the image area. and the lighting was from a ring light... Of course I had to crop and zoom in digitally beyond the optical magnification but I shoot camera raw at a high resolution.. I did try my best to eliminate the Murphy Laws of photography...

Originally Posted by onimaru55

Can you also tell us what stones you used & what magnification we are seeing ?

Oh man... I am sorry, I have been pretty scatter brained lately and forgetting the minor details... Just only seem to focus when I have that Shaaarp blade to my jugular..

Ok for the Stones: Norton 4000/8000 combo stone (I have a 12000 stone comming and hoped to get to use it in this but it apparently was on back order)

Unfortunately I can't say the magnification though.. this is my super macro set up on my canon 5D in combination with digital zoom in lightroom... I will have to do some calculations though, but it's a 100mm macro lens with a flipped 50mm f/1.2... it is a royal pain to focus but you can see the lips on a fly with this rig.. Man I love technology... won't snub my nose at the old style (I even have a 4x5 that I use for landscapes from time to time)...

Here is the Next round of photos and the cool thing is I actually comfirmed a few things I have seen on the forum a few times.. Also using felt at the beginning kind of takes the blade a step back a little...

25 felt



100 strop then shave



I noticed that the changes were slight and I remembered what I read a few time on the forum about warming up the blad and then working the leather to warm it up too. Soooo I warmed the blade in hot water then warmed the strop with a hair dryer, I did keep the dryer on the strop to a minimum because I worried about drying it out. Didn't really know how leather would react to prolonged hair dying.... This is the result..



Now I don't know if it was just a direct result of the heat or if it was just because I have been diligently stropping... So I am going to keep up with this one and I have another blade that is in the vibrating tumbler being polished and will track that one from the start with the warming of the blade and strop.. That way I would know for sure...

Also I am using latigo leather and if you look it has a very very mild texure... I will be introducing Cordovan soon, it is said to be the smoothest leather..

Thanks for your posts Nerv. Without any technical basis, looking at the size of the bevel and the scratches on the blade I would guess you're in the neighborhood of 50x magnification. This is based mainly on what I've seen through my scope, and when I get back home (on the road right now), I'll try and post up some pics for comparison's sake.

It may be interesting and beneficial to include the edge of a dime in a pic to give everyone a reference point. I'll have to rig up a way to do the same...if I can swing it...I think I can.

Thanks again for the pics. It's very interesting to see how the blade responds to different treatments. It appears to me, if I'm reading your post right, that warming the blade and strop produced the smoothest finish.

I warm the strop by rubbing it with the palm of my hand, but I haven't tried warming the blade too.

Peace,