Thread: Is it possible to over strop?

Is it possible to over strop a razor?

A little history. I have been shaving with a razor (Henckels 415) I honed myself and it shaved great for a few shave but I know my stropping was not up to snuff. After watching the Wiki videos it has improved. Recently I re-honed and as someone said on another thread I stropped the "bejesus" out of it (10 felt w/.5 diamond spray, 60 rough leather, and 150 premium I leather) on a modular paddle strop.

Also would like some suggestion on daily stropping with my current setup. At least until I get a hanging strop!!!

Thanks in advance
James

So how was it after you completed that routine? Next time, I'd recommend going from the stones directly to premium leather. You can eliminate some variables that way. When I stopped using felt and spray and stayed with just leather, my results improved. As for over-stropping, if you are doing it correctly on smooth leather, you may reach a point of diminishing returns, but you shouldn't do the blade any harm.

Well I haven't shaved with it yet. I had a mid day Dr appointment and when I shave earlier it was tugging just a little, so I finished up a dreaded disposable orange thing (which actually gave me a very close shave, now that I know how to shave, LOL) and I decided to go to the stones (Naniwa 5K, 8K, an 12K starting with 10 on the pyramid, if it matters) .

But looking at the edge thru a 20X loop it really looked awesome. Just a few striations but I couldn't see any chipping but mostly a beautiful edge. I will shave in the a.m. and test it.

I have never been so excited to shave.

You'll be getting that feeling alot.

Ok time for an update. It was smooth BBS on the cheecks and the rest is still better in one pass than the muck 3, and no burn. Even Old Spice didnt burn first time thats ever happened.

Its good to know though it wont hurt the razor. I can experiment and not do damage at least in theory (givin technique is correct).

If your technique is good enough to not make some beginner mistakes (essentially, the various way in which you'd bend the edge) then I don't think it is humanly possible to overstrop.

If the strop is abrasive enough, and the razor is stropped long enough, it is theoretically possible that the razor will eventually completely abrade away. I don't think this is something any of us need to be concerned with though

If you get a bad case of straparitis it's more likely you'll slip up during the stropping process through fatigue and do damage that way. Otherwise it won't harm the razor.

Oh ya after that little exercise in stropping I could barely lift my right arm...LOL I am very out of shape, but it may expedite the muscle memory.