Thread: Can't get sharp with strop anymore, need advice

I bought 2 straight razors off of ebay (using many of the tips found on this website), and sent them off to get professionally honed in early June. They were sent back in good condition, and very sharp. I was a happy camper. I've been regularly shaving and stropping them since that time. I've been using the Fromm strop (Amazon.com: Fromm Razor Strop 2 1/2" X 23": Health & Personal Care), doing at least 20 strokes on the linen side, and 50 strokes on the leather side per shave. I've been using the advice from this website and several youtube videos for my stropping technique.


Just recently (~2 months after the razors were sharpened), I feel like I can't get a good edge with stropping alone, so I did some research. Come to find out, this is a pretty normal thing, and something more aggressive is needed to freshen up the edge. During my search, I found the following old thread, which was really helpful:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/begin...ing-stone.html

The thread recommends one of three options:
When your razor starts to pull then you have several options.
a. An abrasive pasted paddle strop. The abrasives to use are 3.0, 1.0, 0.5 and 0.25 micron. This is the easiest to learn simply because the stroke is the same as what is used on the plain leather strop.
b. A fine/finishing Barbers hone. This is the least cost option but more difficult to learn to use effectively.
c. A Norton 4/8K hone. For you this would be overkill initially but it is the easiest hone to use, clean and keep flat.


After looking around a bit, it looks like I can get the Norton 4/8K hone for less than $70, which seems to be one of the cheaper long-term options. Is this a wise option over doing the abrasive strop or getting a harder to use hone? I'm really going for best bang for the buck on this, since I started shaving with a straight to save money over cartridges, and the thread I mentioned above is over 7 years old. Is the advice I found in that thread still good?


What are your thoughts?

The advice is still good, tho there is more hones to choose from today.
A pasted strop would probably get your razors sharp again.
It's up to you if you want to start honing on stones yourself, in the long run you would benefit from stones.

Originally Posted by Lemur

The advice is still good, tho there is more hones to choose from today.
A pasted strop would probably get your razors sharp again.
It's up to you if you want to start honing on stones yourself, in the long run you would benefit from stones.

My issue is that a pasted strop, in addition to the pastes I will have to reapply will cost almost as much as the Norton stone. I'm thinking of just jumping directly to the stone.

You mentioned that there are more hones to chose from these days. Can you give me some more information so I can research them? What hones are you thinking about?

I would go the least abrasive route. If you need to hone after 2 months, then using a norton 4/8 would wear your blade down in a few years. I bought 2 barbers hones off thebay for a low cost.(40$ I think, each). I use them to freshen my edges. I havent tried the pasted strop, but the may be the least abrasive, and least expensive.

Originally Posted by souschefdude

I would go the least abrasive route. If you need to hone after 2 months, then using a norton 4/8 would wear your blade down in a few years. I bought 2 barbers hones off thebay for a low cost.(40$ I think, each). I use them to freshen my edges. I havent tried the pasted strop, but the may be the least abrasive, and least expensive.

So, how do I tell what kind of barber's hone I need? Plus, why did you get 2 of them?

Originally Posted by bprjam

My issue is that a pasted strop, in addition to the pastes I will have to reapply will cost almost as much as the Norton stone. I'm thinking of just jumping directly to the stone.

You mentioned that there are more hones to chose from these days. Can you give me some more information so I can research them? What hones are you thinking about?

Gokumyo and Zulu Grey is the first that comes to mind but I'm sure there is more...

Hello Gentlemen.
Thanks to bprjam for starting this thread. Wiki SRP is fantastic, but it is great to have friendly members to put the information on those pages into context for us.

Just quick questions, because it applies to one of my razors, and seems to fit this thread. Does the advice of going for a fine grit/barbers hone hold if the edge you are wishing to refine is one that may have been abused when the stropping technique was less than desirable? For instance, I have no idea if my edge is "rolled" or not on my first razor.

Secondly, what is the "timeline" for the maintenance pathway? Would it, for instance, be a good idea to go to a fine grit stone/finisher first, and later add in a Norton or similar? Or, as I have been reading on the "Newbie Honing Journal" thread by Oscroft, is it a better idea to start out on a 4/8 norton or similar, and add in a finishing stone when the Norton has been mastered?

Yours gratefully...

Originally Posted by souschefdude

I would go the least abrasive route. If you need to hone after 2 months, then using a norton 4/8 would wear your blade down in a few years. I bought 2 barbers hones off thebay for a low cost.(40$ I think, each). I use them to freshen my edges. I havent tried the pasted strop, but the may be the least abrasive, and least expensive.

Okay, now that I'm thinking about it, I think I'm getting confused.

Even though the old thread from 2006 I mentioned in my original post mentioned using the Norton 4/8, you are thinking this would be too aggressive as a touch-up hone?

Where can I find resources on what sort of barber's hone to look for? If I don't use the Norton, I'm not sure how to find what I need...

What I have noticed over the years for beginners

As you get better and better at this sport of SR shaving your edges tend to last longer, here is what I have noted

A beginner is pretty hard on a fresh edge, your prep is so so, angles are so so and your stropping has not progressed from the "Do no Harm" stage to the "Improve the edge" stage. so you burn up an edge pretty quick..

So after the 2nd time you get a razor honed it generally lasts about twice as long as it did the first time because you are getting better at everything..

After the 3rd honing you should about double that time again and that should be about where you stay at.. So by my calculations and reading your post you burned up the first edge in a little over 1 month (2 razors lasted near 3 months) so the next time through the edge should last you 2-3 months and after the 3rd time you should be at 4-6 months per edge... You could also do the Maintenance Routine where you never let the razor get dull and you would do a light touch up weekly or twice monthly and keep the razors at tip top condition, depending on your beard...


Proper honing and proper stropping should not put hardly any wear on a razor, note the word PROPER it is very important.. I have a test bed razor that has had 32 full honing cycles put on it and the edge wear is barely over 1mm.. Those are full honing cycles from 1k up which is not needed for a shaver, the touch up cycles that are need for maintenance would not even put half that wear on the steel...

Originally Posted by gssixgun

What I have noticed over the years for beginners
You could also do the Maintenance Routine where you never let the razor get dull and you would do a light touch up weekly or twice monthly and keep the razors at tip top condition, depending on your beard...

So, a couple of things here. Your calcs mention that 2 razors lasted 3 months. This is oversimplified, because I've been heavily favoring one razor over the other. But still, your point is well-taken.

As far as the maintenance routine you mentioned, I'm wondering what it would take to do this "light touch up" you mention. Would would I use to do that?