Alright! I was second guessing myself, so I took some time tonight to work with my strops.
In an effort to solicit your Observations and Reasoned Arguments, I would like to present to my Fellow Gentlemen of Inquiring Disposition the following Experiment and Inquiry:
I took a W&B I have with a wicked smile that has proven very tricky for me to get. With the coarse hair sample Gary sent me, it came off the hone with a HHT 1. Playing the violin but no cutting action on the hair. I took 4 passes on the TM linen to remove any residual debris and and re-tested, for another HHT 1, but a tiny bit more action on the violin.
I then went to my modified Kanayama linen, and did about 80 laps and retested. I was able to achieve a partial split and length-wise slice very, very consistently. A textbook hht2. Moving over to the un-sanded side, I did 40 laps and retested. Same results: HHT2. Back and forth, 2 more trips with each side showed no change in HHT results. It seemed obvious I'd reached some sort of equilibrium between the two sides. Neither side sowed an improvement over the other, nor a loss in HHT values.
I then took the blade to the TM linen, 40 laps, and tested for a hht3. Marked improvement which showed consistent over several hairs.
Back to the un-sanded side Kanayama,40 laps, and a marked drop in HHT back to HHT1+. Not quite a HHT2.
No improvement on the sanded side.
Then I reversed the order, after 40 laps on the TM, I went to the sanded Kanayama before the un-sanded side and tested to show a HHT2.
I actually repeated it several more times while composing this report, and found it faintly amusing that I could bounce back and forth between the HHT results at will depending on which strop I used. I've tested HHT during stropping before, but never to this extent, nor did I ever really "go back".
So I've drawn a couple preliminary conclusions.
First and foremost in my mind, I don't believe in any way that I've degraded the function of my Kanayama by sanding the surface lightly. Each side showed identical results, consistently, over several trips back.
The benefit for me is that I do like the sanded side better. Switching between them, I really have a personal preference for the smoother action sanding has created.
Secondly, the TM linen made a marked improvement in HHT results. Consistently improving this one blade's results a full HHT point.
More than 40 some laps doesn't really make any difference. Without having spent the time to really break it down, all I can say that 80 laps didn't make an improvement that wasn't seen already at 40 laps.
The last thing I have concluded, is that the TM linen appeared to be more effective in improving the HHT values.
With that, let me say this: one razor, one test, rookie's hands.... Don't take my word for it. I plan to repeat the test with the next few razors I hone and see if it shows similar results. I haven't shaved with the razor yet and based my (preliminary) conclusions solely on HHT results.
Now, this process has raised a few questions in my mind...
What does it mean that the results would rise and fall from strop to strop? Am I working on the edge of this blade's capabilities? Or is it a function of the strop? Or my honing? If I came off the hones with a higher HHT value, would the strop knock it back to a HHT 2, or improve it? Would one then improve it more than the other?
What exactly is the untreated fibre doing? I can't help but think that it must be making a physical change in the edge, but of what nature?
hhhmmmm........
Back to the strops...
This matter is one this Gentleman considers worthy of further Investigation, and the Aplication of Sound Scientific Principal to further explore the implications.
I hope I've presented my actions clearly. I think that this little test is fairly sound and should be repeatable by any Gentleman who is in posession of each, or other strops, and I would hope said Gentlemen might be so moved as to attempt to undertake a similar Course of Enquriy and share with us their results.
BWhahahah
I gotta lay off the turn of the century publications, they're wearing off on me...
... and the rum!
Cheers,
-Chris