Stropping before use?

bagman

bagman

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I've been stropping a new blade on my palm prior to first use for ages.

Yesterday I opened a box of 800 Polsilver SI blades I received and for some unknown reason decided to strop one on the cardboard box they came in (not quite as random as it sounds as I've done this for years with knives when I didn't have a strop handy)

What a awful shave, very tuggy and not a smooth result even after 3 passes.

Realising my foolishness I binned the blade and tried again with a new blade this morning.
The result was one of my best shaves ever :D
 
In My Experience as I Use Vintage SE Stropping Blades..Is that Hand or Palm Stropping was with Stropping Blades to Smooth them Out to Take the Harshness from the Edge..Modern Factory Blades are a Different Animal that has a Multi Facet Edge which will be Dulled by Palm Stropping Very Quickly Hence they Feel Smoother..:)

In Short..Palm Stropping was Common with Proper Stropping Blades by Some..;)

Billy
 
I don't think it is necessary. I have been tempted to hand strop a Voshkod as the first shave is not as close as it could be but it is so comfortable I don't bother. It shaves better while keeping comfort after a little of the teflon is worn off though.
 
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I usually take a bit more care on the first couple of shaves to get the feel of the blade especially with Feathers. They soon settle down. I don't subscribe to conditioning a new blade on cork either.
 
Greetings

Hand stropping disposable blades is a very controversial subject, my personal view is that it is a hang over from the days when all blades were uncoated carbon and then it might well have had some impact on the smoothness of the edge. I clearly remember my father always doing it with the Blue Gillette blades that he (and just about everybody else) used at the time.

I tend to subscribe to the argument that it adds nothing to any modern coated blade, DE or SE and done over exuberantly it just might have an adverse effect on the coating, having said that if you do it gently and you believe it helps then it probably does but dare I suggest that the benefit is really on the mind of the person doing it rather than on the cutting edge of the blade.

Please feel free to argue against me and I make no claims to be always ( or even mostly) correct, but is it fair to say that hand stropping coated blades has a large element of 'black art' about it.

Regards
Dick
 
Hand Stropping is part of the 'foreplay' involved in traditional shaving. It may not be necessary, but it helps to set the 'emotional stage' for wet shaving.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Any Old SE or DE Stropping Blade has a Bevel that has been Set from the Factory for Stropping Purposes..These Blades have a Pre Set Stropping Angle from Edge to Spine I May Add..That Goes for SRs or Old SE Hollow Ground Blades as Well..Factory DE Blades are Multi Facet Edges & Not Suitable or Factory Intended for Stropping..Its as Simple as That..o_O

That's Like Putting Gun Powder Down the Barrel of a Modern M 16 that was Designed for Muskets..:D

Billy
 
invicta said:
Modern blades are ready for shaving which is why they are wrapped carefully.
Click to expand...


Agreed. But as I said above, I find the first shave on most blades to be not as smooth as the second. A blade ready for shaving when it leaves the Shark assembly line is not the same as a blade leaving the GSB line. (In my opinion.)

I don't personally palm strop or cork or whatever, but I do see where it could possibly smooth out that initial roughness. At the risk of blunting a fifteen cent blade, if it improves a guy's shave; makes it more comfortable, I say go for it. Not my shave and not my fifteen cents.
 
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