Thread: Strop Between Passes?

Bentlink,

Like Carlo, I tried for some months many Moons ago : I didn't feel it added anything, so I stopped.

Haven't stropped between passes since.

Like many things in straight razor shaving, experiment and try them for yourself. It is almost like tasting food by asking somebody else what it tastes like.

The experiment may not achieve anything postive, but it is interesting and you are adding to the body of knowledge

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

Bentlick, there was a period in my learning curve when I was stropping between passes. As I recall, I was early on in my honing efforts and was probably producing edges that were not yet very good but which would cut okay--briefly--after a good stropping. Or, they wouldn't. Or, they might scrape me red and raw. Things were a bit of a crap shoot, and the extra stropping seemed to help me limp through any given shave.

While all the variables are still coming together for you, do what you must, but take the need for between-passes stropping as a symptom of a problem somewhere. And congratulations! Sometimes I can't believe any of us manage this at all.

Don't for the most part, but I have been known to when I go for the whole caboodle (prep, towels, etc malarkey).
It's when I'm going for that uber glass smooth feel to the skin which is not very often (usually Valentines night).
I think it does offer something in these circumstances. It might all be in my head, but it can do no harm?

Joe

I strop before and after. If I had to strop mid shave I would grab a different razor and re hone the one that needed stropping. Technically you should be able to get a few 3 pass shaves from a shave ready razor before needing to strop although it would drop off a little and not something I would recommend

I have a really coarse beard and I have the feeling that stropping between passes could be of some use, as the second pass seems to not be as smooth sometimes. However, I have a much more intense feeling that I' m too lazy for this and really don't want to stop mid-shave so I haven' t tried it.
My best guess is that, unless you have razorwire for beard, if your blade really needs mid-shave stropping, there might something wrong with it.

Originally Posted by PhatMan

Bentlink,

Like Carlo, I tried for some months many Moons ago : I didn't feel it added anything, so I stopped.

Haven't stropped between passes since.

Like many things in straight razor shaving, experiment and try them for yourself. It is almost like tasting food by asking somebody else what it tastes like.

The experiment may not achieve anything postive, but it is interesting and you are adding to the body of knowledge

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

Well said!

So what does the edge look like under magnification?

The edge is lacking sharpness to begin with and you are noticing it ATG.

I doubt two passes on any beard, can completely dull, a properly prepared edge.

I would suspect stropping as the cause, for the novice completely normal, proper stropping can take some time to learn.

If it works for you, go for it... what ever it takes.

Originally Posted by carlmaloschneider

I tried it a couple of times but noticed no benefit, however, I've never used a shavette, so have no experience with the quality of a shavette blade. I'm very respectfully wondering why, with 'three shaves in', you are doing three passes? Do you have a very heavy beard growth? I know very few experienced straight razor shavers who would do three passes; many only do one (me included).

As a beginner, I feel the weepers are caused by the three passes. I would advise that you're over doing it. My advice would take it back to just one pass. If you must do a ATG pass, ensure you use a very light touch, very short strokes, and weaken your lather with a little water before applying the lather for the ATG pass.

Hope this is of some help.

Carl

That's interesting...Why not three passes on a daily basis?

Why not three passes? For me, lots of reasons:

(1) I don't feel that for me there is anything like WTG, XTG and ATG; at least for an entire 'pass'. I feel many interpret WTG, XTG and ATG to mean N to S, E to W (or W to E) and S to N. Of course, in reality my hair doesn't grow like that. When I do my first pass; I'm actually already shaving a good deal of my face in a XTG pass. I sweep my razor slightly across my cheek; and in effect am coming up squarely against the hair growth; so part of the first pass is XTG anyway.

(2) I don't need it. One pass normally removes all hair. Yes, if I feel my neck running my fingers upwards, I DO feel some hair, but I'm acceptably clean shaven. Now I DO have a light beard growth, and what is there is quite patchy (esp higher up on the cheeks).

(3) I don't have time. It only takes me ten minutes from the very beginning to the very end to do one pass, but most mornings I still only have time for one pass. On Sundays, when I shave in my bedroom in the afternoon at my old fashioned shaving stand, I will sometimes do two passes (a ATG touch up on the neck) but I've never done three passes.

BTW, someone said something about 'Can you even strop a shavette...'. Remember, you can get an apparatus to strop razor blades, so why not a shavette? However, you'd do it before and after for the same purpose you strop a straight; to remove micro corrosion and clean the edge.

Oh just a sec! Sorry! I re-read your original post, I mistakenly thought you were using a shavette still! Sorry!