Leathering is what I call it and idk the correct term. But after sharpening a blade you drag it along a leather strap on both sides and miraculously it becomes razor sharp. The seemingly subtle motion on a softer surface makes a night and day difference of the sharpness of the edge. WHY?!? Edit: the it
In: Engineering
It’s called “stropping” and it supposedly corrects minor imperfections in the blade. Spots where the metal is microscopically bent out of alignment, it is bent back.
This is called stropping. It works because it straightens the edge of the blade. Sharpening makes the edge thinner, but a thin edge that isn’t straight still won’t cut as well. Stropping the blade ensures that the edge will be both thin and straight, maximizing the blade’s cutting ability.
To add to what has already been said: stropping also removes small pieces of metal or “burrs” from the freshly sharpened blade. Helping it get a better edge.
Like the others said it’s stropping.
Sharpening with Steele can only make it so fine. Leather makes it like a razor blade
I use a straight razor to shave and I have to strop every few times. Rough edge on the leather 10 times and smooth edge 40 times.
I can feel the difference on a freshly stropped blade
Edit: microscopically leather can fine tune the edges to sharpen the thinnest of a metal surface without breaking it. Thats what happens with a harder compound. Think of it as trying to sharpen a stick with a saw vs a knife
So, what most people think is sharpening, isn’t all there is. The person grinding an axe on a grinding wheel… those are just rudimentary edges. If you look at them under a microscope, it’s gnarly as hell still.
Even sharpening stones, they have different roughness grades and to be really sharp with stones you not only need to use progressively finer and finer ones, but you even use sharpening paste on the stone to help.
When the knife is really sharp, one way or another, you can look at the edge under a microscope again and it’ll be smooth and fine. But any use, really, will ding it.
There are pictures of injection needles used on soft, human skin just once and the tip is curled under a microscope.
Facial razors, the same deal.
So to keep it fine, while it’s still easily done, you ‘hone’ it. Several methods exist to do so, like the leather strap, as well as a honing steel — a circular, steel rod with an abrasive surface that chefs frequently use on their knives throughout the day. Soft things have a surprising way of influencing harder things, when they’re so finely tipped.
They’re not sharpening it, as the edge stays there for the most part, but gets straightened out more than ground away by soft materials.
Every now and again, for example, people give the advice of dragging a facial razor backwards up a rough material like denim jeans, or even your arm a few times, after shaving, to make it last longer.
If I was really explaining it to a five year old, I’d say that sharpening a blade is like combing your hair with your fingers when you get out of the tub. Mostly things point in the right direction, it looks okay, and it’s good enough for hanging out around the house.
But stropping the blade on leather is like combing your hair. It gets every tiny bit of metal along the blade edge pointing in the same direction, so just like your hair looks sharp when you comb it, the blade gets sharp when you strop it.
Lots of answers here. When you strop it you remove a long burr that remains on the edge of the blade after sharpening.
https://scienceofsharp.com/
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