Thread: Maintaining Your Razors - Newbie Poll

Shaotzu, foam core board cut 3" x whatever you want (actually 12" is most likely the best), heavy duck cotton cut 5" x 14" if going with the 12", rubber cement duck cotton to the foam core after notching the corners to avoid bulk when you wrap it to the back. Then, as they say, go for it. It works for some and it doesn't work for some. Cheapest way I can think of at the moment. And all the materials are available at Jo Ann's Fabrics or other craft/sewing stores.

To quote Lynn, "Have fun."

Balsa wood from the hardware is cheap and easy to use. Just lap and apply paste spray etc. Can't help much with the refresh info I always seem to have a new razor neefs honing and testing

What type of strop do you have? Another option that i used was buy replacement fabric from SRP and either glue them for paddle stropping or find a way to hang them. They are about four bucks a pop, which is nothing in the strop market and you can try out all the materials to see what you prefer.

Originally Posted by aa1192

What type of strop do you have? Another option that i used was buy replacement fabric from SRP and either glue them for paddle stropping or find a way to hang them. They are about four bucks a pop, which is nothing in the strop market and you can try out all the materials to see what you prefer.

Actually, I just looked them up and that's a great idea. I have an SRD 3" latigo strop with their premium webbing on the back, so I guess technically, I have the back of the webbing and the back of the leather right now . . . and at less than $10 for replacement fabric, that sounds like a fantastic idea. Thanks for the advice!

No worries man, I hope you enjoy them. I bought a couple myself and really enjoy the poly webbing despite the zip zip zipping of it. I will say this on a two piece strop I find it a pain in the butt to use the backside of the webbing. The piece of leather you are not holding tends to twist the webbing as it hangs which is not ideal. Luckily, I have a nail above my stropping station which I hook my leather to while i use the backside of the webbing. Eventually I am gonna separate all my fabric components into single piece strops for ease of use.

Originally Posted by aa1192

No worries man, I hope you enjoy them. I bought a couple myself and really enjoy the poly webbing despite the zip zip zipping of it.

Actually, I kind of Ike the zippy sounds ....

I have been using the SRD paddle strop and really enjoy it because it allows me to be able to experiment with different leathers and refreshing mediums. I have a hard wool felt pad that is treated with CRoX and another with 0.5 diamond (included with the kit). I think I'm leaning towards the CRoX as a preference, but whats nice about the paddle strop is I don't have to fully commit when applying the pastes. If I don't like it, I'll by another pad for less than $11.00.

Originally Posted by mbg1081

I have been using the SRD paddle strop and really enjoy it because it allows me to be able to experiment with different leathers and refreshing mediums. I have a hard wool felt pad that is treated with CRoX and another with 0.5 diamond (included with the kit). I think I'm leaning towards the CRoX as a preference, but whats nice about the paddle strop is I don't have to fully commit when applying the pastes. If I don't like it, I'll by another pad for less than $11.00.

So glad I found the replacement pads on there . . . makes the process much more palatable.

Not being able to move very well anymore I'm down to shaving once or twice a week, given the numbers of blades I've set up over the years I can go about two years between honing parties Hard part is remembering what razors are getting dull...

Reminds me I still have two boxes I have to deal with...

I still prefer Jnats or other natural stones for a shaving edge and when I feel it tugging at all vs the wet squeegee I try to put the razor in the correct box for touching up. I strop 10-cloth, 20-leather, shave, 10-cloth and put it away till next shave. When I'm up to it I get out my... wow forgot the names of the stones... well my green hand stone 10k range and do about 15-20 passes and test, than onto the blue asagi (hey I think I remembered one ) for about 10 passes.

So far that has been working for me.

Between the new meds (of the month...) and PT sessions I have been getting better range of motion, enough to start classes again part time. Photography as I can no longer work in a kitchen, or anywhere for the past year+ is keeping me interested in moving about. I'm setting up a small light cubby for photos, I really want to get some better shots of my razors and kit

Originally Posted by DwarvenChef

Not being able to move very well anymore I'm down to shaving once or twice a week, given the numbers of blades I've set up over the years I can go about two years between honing parties Hard part is remembering what razors are getting dull...

Reminds me I still have two boxes I have to deal with...

I still prefer Jnats or other natural stones for a shaving edge and when I feel it tugging at all vs the wet squeegee I try to put the razor in the correct box for touching up. I strop 10-cloth, 20-leather, shave, 10-cloth and put it away till next shave. When I'm up to it I get out my... wow forgot the names of the stones... well my green hand stone 10k range and do about 15-20 passes and test, than onto the blue asagi (hey I think I remembered one ) for about 10 passes.

So far that has been working for me.

Between the new meds (of the month...) and PT sessions I have been getting better range of motion, enough to start classes again part time. Photography as I can no longer work in a kitchen, or anywhere for the past year+ is keeping me interested in moving about. I'm setting up a small light cubby for photos, I really want to get some better shots of my razors and kit

What happened Chef? When I was first learning this art, you were the guy I watched on YouTube. I hope you get better, and wish you a speedy recovery.