Thread: Frigged up my brand new Razor, I think.

I cannot recommend enough the use of a paddle strop for beginner stropping. It made a world of difference for me in the beginning. It is takes the tension variable out of the equation, and really helped me a ton. I occasionally use a hanging strop, but the paddle is still my go-to strop. I have the SRD modular paddle, and it is great for stropping and refreshing with paste or diamond spray. It was the best money I have spent on this hobby.

Originally Posted by Mrspiffy

Ecormier, thats not NB! haha

As for the stropping, I believe in the beginning I wasn't resting the spine on the strop and I think I was pressing to hard.. Damn.

Yup - Phil is a great guy, have a few razors from Classic Edge, and they are honed superbly.

Stropping is probably one of the most fundamental skills in this hobby. Go slow, the spine must always rest on the strop, and be properly, slowly rolled over with each pass. If you don't have good stropping skills, you will roll the edge of your blade, and your shave will then become very uncomfortable. Too much pressure, spine not on the strop, can definitely impact the quality of your edge and thus your shave.

When I visited Phil once, to learn how to refresh my blades on a coticule, he had a look at some of my blades. Here I was, thinking I had this stuff down pat, I had maybe 7 blades then, half had rolled edges from bad stropping. I went back to the beginning, watched stropping vids again, and learned how to strop, slowly, spine on the edge.

Haha...it was a lesson I hope I don't have to learn again, so don't worry, it's happened to most of us. I'm sure Phil will look after you if you send it in....

Cheers!

As far as I remember classicedge shoukd have a one time free re-honing. You could use that
Just my 2 cents

I'll definately look into a paddle strop for beginning.

And I think the Dovo is going to go in the mail to classic edge for a re-do!

Thanks for the input fellas.

Originally Posted by Mrspiffy

I'll definately look into a paddle strop for beginning.

And I think the Dovo is going to go in the mail to classic edge for a re-do!

Thanks for the input fellas.

I'd email Phill first. Every time I tried to get him to hone for me, he always had a huge wait time. He even removed his honing service on the site for a while...not sure if it's still down or if he put it back up.

Yeah, I emailed yesterday inquiring but have yet to hear anything.. I'd rather not drag this out seeing as I only have the one SR and was just starting to get into it.

Oh well!

Originally Posted by Mrspiffy

Hahaha great story..

Well I certainly used some pressure but I didn't white knuckle it thats for sure !

I have watched quite a few stropping videos tonight after my ordeal and have learnt a few more things.

No pressure is what you should strive for. Yes of course the razor (spine and edge) should rest on the strop, but we really should not PRESS at all. In fact, in the beginning, less stropping is better then more stropping at too great a pressure. Also, in the begging keep the total laps down. Normally I do 30/70 canvas leather, but one needs to learn how to concentrate through all that, and i think beginners can lose concentration.

These days after two and a half years of SR shaving I can actually strop without even looking at the strop; just going by muscle memory and feel, but that takes practice.

Originally Posted by Mrspiffy

Yeah, I emailed yesterday inquiring but have yet to hear anything.. I'd rather not drag this out seeing as I only have the one SR and was just starting to get into it.

Oh well!

You could also send it to Val at the Gentleman's Den, he does a spectacular job and his turn around is very quick, he's in Toronto:

https://www.facebook.com/Gentlemansden

Love the title. A word not used nearly enough in my estimation

Originally Posted by Phrank

You could also send it to Val at the Gentleman's Den, he does a spectacular job and his turn around is very quick, he's in Toronto:

https://www.facebook.com/Gentlemansden

Originally Posted by carlmaloschneider

No pressure is what you should strive for. Yes of course the razor (spine and edge) should rest on the strop, but we really should not PRESS at all. In fact, in the beginning, less stropping is better then more stropping at too great a pressure. Also, in the begging keep the total laps down. Normally I do 30/70 canvas leather, but one needs to learn how to concentrate through all that, and i think beginners can lose concentration.

These days after two and a half years of SR shaving I can actually strop without even looking at the strop; just going by muscle memory and feel, but that takes practice.

This is a good point. When I was learning to strop, I'd do 15-20 laps, go do something else, then come back to it later and do another 15-20.

Additionally, not all razors feel the same on the strop, so, I find you have to get to know an individual razor in order to get the most out of your stropping.