How's the edge holding up?

**Seraphim** · 03-10-2010, 01:36 PM

Been trying some experiments here at Seraphim Laboratories...

Here is a pic of a razor edge before, and after a shave. Includes pre-and post shave stropping on HA bridle leather strop. Edge was finished to 1um lapping film with some Cromox hanging stropping to finish it off.

EDIT:

Also added a pic of the edge after 4 shaves, with various strops used before/after shaving. It appears the edge is at about the same lavel as after a single shave.

**Seraphim** · 03-10-2010, 01:40 PM

So, from the above, it looked as if the stropping caused a fair bit of striations on the bevel, adn so it was unclear what may have been going on at the very edge due to the shave itself...

So, todays experiment was with a different razor, finished all the way out to 0.1um lapping film.

(I'm not usually a fan of finishing to this fine a level, I usually leave it at 1um, maybe with some cromeox too, as per raazor in post #1.)

I did not strop before, nor after the shave, to see what was going on due to whisker interaction alone....

before and after.

**JPM** · 03-10-2010, 01:49 PM

Interesting photos. Did you take a picture of the second one after stropping?

**mdunn** · 03-10-2010, 02:25 PM

would you mind, O wise Seraphim, to shave with that same blade you took to the 0.1um film without stropping untill it tugs and really wants a stropping, then do a before and after - so we can see what is a tuggy blade, and how well a good stropping fixes it up?

**bradyarz** · 03-10-2010, 03:45 PM

sorry if you've posted this before, but what magnification do you use?

**Seraphim** · 03-10-2010, 07:04 PM

Originally Posted by bradyarz

sorry if you've posted this before, but what magnification do you use?

I'm estimating that is ~400x

**Seraphim** · 03-10-2010, 07:06 PM

Originally Posted by mdunn

would you mind, O wise Seraphim, to shave with that same blade you took to the 0.1um film without stropping untill it tugs and really wants a stropping, then do a before and after - so we can see what is a tuggy blade, and how well a good stropping fixes it up?

That's one idea.

Yet I don't think that's what I'll try next. Subjecting my face to harsh treatment is not what I signed up for!

I'm going to give that razor a stropping tonight and see how it looks after that.

**spanx** · 03-10-2010, 07:11 PM

Question. What is 1um lapping film?

**The Knize** · 03-10-2010, 07:19 PM

i love it! thanks for posting!

**Seraphim** · 03-10-2010, 07:35 PM

Originally Posted by spanx

Question. What is 1um lapping film?

Do a search for "lapping film" there's lots of threads about it. It's good stuff in my book.

**Rancor16** · 03-11-2010, 12:06 AM

very interesting

**thunderball** · 03-11-2010, 12:12 AM

Very cool thread and pics.

**honed** · 03-11-2010, 12:19 AM

Thanks for posting this, this is interesting stuff!

**Seraphim** · 03-11-2010, 06:32 AM

So, here is that last edge after one shave, with no stropping, and then a look at it after stropping on a vintage horsehide shell strop.

**ajkimmins** · 03-11-2010, 07:01 AM

Amazing just how "bumpy" that edge gets!!! Fun to really see what happened after one shave!
Thank you.

**Seraphim** · 03-11-2010, 07:19 AM

Originally Posted by ajkimmins

Amazing just how "bumpy" that edge gets!!! Fun to really see what happened after one shave!
Thank you.

Just for the sake of clarity, these images are under very high magnification (estimated at ~400x), so it is unclear as of yet how important what we are seeing correlates to how the razor shaves (pretty darn good so far!).

I am working on a hypothesis that extreme refinement of the edge (ala 0.1um) leads to a less durable edge. I tend to like the feel of a 1um finish, with some chromeox. Perhaps that just feels the best for my skin? Perhaps it is because the edge doesn't get micro-dinged up like that 0.1um edge showed?

That'll be my next test run for tomorrow's shave. A before and after of a 1um finished edge, no stropping, like with the 0.1um to see how it does. Let's find out.

For a sense of scale, here is a shot of an edge with a hair across it, same magnification:

**Seraphim** · 03-11-2010, 09:56 AM

Touched up with cromox ~10 laps

**JPM** · 03-11-2010, 10:12 AM

Very interesting. It is noticeably smoother after the stropping, albeit at high magnification. I'm new to straights, I wonder if my edge looks better or worse after stropping.