Thread: Paddle strop questions, or what the heck did I do?

Gee, I think I got a strop from that guy you mentioned!

Not to hijack the thread here, but I am just starting out, and have a leather/linen hanging strop. I have no hone, but will probably get a Norton 4000/8000 waterstone. Do I need a paddle strop, too? Or can I just use the hone and my hanging strop and keep a good edge?

Many people learn to go right from the Norton to the hanging strop. A lot will depend on your face and what works for you. The Norton is perfectly capable of leaving a shaving sharp edge but it will not be as smooth as a edge polished on an abrasive paddle or fine finishing stone.

Tony

Thanks for the info, Tony. I will probably be getting a paddle strop from you soon.

Well crud. Only made it halfway through the shave today and by that time the front half of the edge wasn't cutting anything, just pushing the hairs over. Back half cutting just peachy. Finishing the shave was rather amusing wtih the contortions to get the heel where it needed to be w/o cutting off anything else.

However, running it over the finger nail doesn't catch or do anything odd, and visually it seems OK. A big spot has started forming on the front of the blade away from the hinge too, where it looks like the finish is coming off, the chrome or whatever it is. Not sure what's up with that.

I'm stumped. Getting close to time to toss it and start over. Might try one of them feather thingies.

Originally Posted by mrcpu

Well, I don't have a special custom razor hone, but I got this silicon carbide knife sharpening thing that works good on my knives.

Not surprisingly the shave is so bad now. A sharpening stone for knives is much too coarse for a razor! Get the razor honed by s.o. or buy yourself a Norton I would think.

<<< A big spot has started forming on the front of the blade away from the hinge too, where it looks like the finish is coming off, the chrome or whatever it is. Not sure what's up with that.>>>

None of these things are plated, just what is this spot?

Tony

What spot are you referring to, Tony?

Originally Posted by Kees

What spot are you referring to, Tony?

I'm guessing it's this one:

Originally Posted by mrcpu

A big spot has started forming on the front of the blade away from the hinge too, where it looks like the finish is coming off, the chrome or whatever it is. Not sure what's up with that.

That's pretty strange, I'm guessing it's waterspotting or something, but it's hard to say from the description if something is actually crumbling away the way plating would.

Yeah, I found a place to hone it, so I"m going to send it off. In the meantime, I ordered some of them polish thingies, gonna play with them. Turns out a store in my town had some dovo 5/8 cheapo's on sale, so I think I will snag a spare, and send it off to get it cleaned up before I use it... In the meantime, shaggy is the order of the day...

Originally Posted by Tony Miller

<<< A big spot has started forming on the front of the blade away from the hinge too, where it looks like the finish is coming off, the chrome or whatever it is. Not sure what's up with that.>>>

None of these things are plated, just what is this spot?

Tony

I don't know. It is round, so it looks like it could be a water spot, but I *never* let it sit. It gets used, rinsed, wiped dry, a few strokes on the leather, then put in the cabinet. So it's a stumper. But doesn't matter anymore.