Thread: Paddle or Hanging Strop

Originally Posted by mental

I recently purchased a razor, hanging strop, etc. so that I can begin shaving with a straight razor. What do people typically hang their strop from? I was watching a few videos, but I can't tell what the strop is "attached" to on the wall, or wherever it's hanging from. I was hoping to avoid doing something crude like screwing an eyehook into the wall, etc.

I apologize if this is a stupid question, but I haven't been able to find the answer yet. The Dovo strop I purchased has a circular loop at the hanging end, just don't know what to attach it to.

As soon as I get my razor from Lynn, it will be time to put the strop to use!

There are some around here just crude enough to screw an eye hook into the wall (the door jamb actually)!...

I use the hook behind the bathroom door. Works for me.

I use a short loop of nylon cord (thin climbing rope), which I 'lasso' around the doorknob on the back of my bathroom door. Quick and easy to fit or remove, provides a good firm anchor, and doesn't leave any marks.

Originally Posted by mental

I recently purchased a razor, hanging strop, etc. so that I can begin shaving with a straight razor. What do people typically hang their strop from? I was watching a few videos, but I can't tell what the strop is "attached" to on the wall, or wherever it's hanging from. I was hoping to avoid doing something crude like screwing an eyehook into the wall, etc.

I apologize if this is a stupid question, but I haven't been able to find the answer yet. The Dovo strop I purchased has a circular loop at the hanging end, just don't know what to attach it to.

As soon as I get my razor from Lynn, it will be time to put the strop to use!

In the end no matter which way you decide to hang/anchor your strop, just make very sure of one thing...That it is secure and isn't going to come free during stropping...

I found out the hard way when I ripped the towel rack off the wall whilst stropping, thus nearly slicing my strop clean in half...

Gotta love that contact cement...

Originally Posted by Chopper

In the end no matter which way you decide to hang/anchor your strop, just make very sure of one thing...That it is secure and isn't going to come free during stropping...

I found out the hard way when I ripped the towel rack off the wall whilst stropping, thus nearly slicing my strop clean in half...

Gotta love that contact cement...

My strop is hung on the wall from a sturdy yet quite decorative plant hook bought and installed for the purpose. It came from my local nursery and upon edict from the wife had to match the bathroom hardware.

Okay, back from vacation so here are my 2 cents <g>.

For daily use a hanging strop is still the most effective choice. Wider and longer than a paddle it provide far more surface area so should get the job done faster and more effectively.

A paddle strop is mainly for use with abrasives. The porous leather holds pastes well and the hard wooden surface helps prevent rounding the edge from the leather flexing as it would on a hanging strop charged with pastes.

Now, the disclaimers. Some fellows use paddles for everything. They like the rigid surface and compact size, even for daily use. Thiers Issard tells me they feel paddles are the best choice for daily use on thier razors. I use them as well but still use a hanging strop at least as much. I feel I have more control on a paddle as I am forced to go a bit slower. Other feel on a typical narrow paddle they have less control because of the width. Guys hold paddles differently too wich may account for variations in effectiveness. Some lay them flat on the table like a stone. The paddle stays rigid but you are forced into a strick, rigid hand movement now to keep the razor in contact. I think this would work best with wide paddles or bench strops. I hold my paddle by the handle with the far end resting on something. When sitting I rest it across my leg. This makes the paddle roll a bit with the stropping motion and to me allows for a less than strick, rigid hand movement. This works best for me on narrow paddles, 2" or less.

Also, "paddles are for pastes, hanging strops are not". Well, not always <g>. For years many commercial strops for barbers came with 2 leather sections, one marked "sharpen", one marked "finish". One was pasted with red or black pastes and used frequently to refresh an edge. A barber used his strop far more often than we do, many times each day and was pretty god and holding it tightly when needed and stropping effectively. He could feel what he was doing so rounding an edge with pastes on the flexing surface was not an issue for him. For a typical beginner, or someone not really tuned into what's happening a rounded edge is likely.

"But Tony, you frequently tell beginners to buy a paddle instead" Okay, I do this because a beginner is likely to ruin his freshly honed edge via improper stropping in a very short time. A pasted paddle at least gives him a shot at fixing it without sending it back out or immediatly needing to rush back out to buy yet another type of strop or stone right away. Many start on a budget and want to keep the $$ to a minimum and buy one tool only to get going. Once I explain this to someone who calls or e-mails and they understand the pitfalls I still tell them a hanging strop is the better choice for daily use, but they will need a hone, stone or paddle down the road a few weeks.

So, no right or wrong answer to the hanging or paddle question. Just what sounds like it will work for you. My advice it to stick with the basics first. Get one strop and learn to strop effectively before moving on. Then get one tool for sharpening, stone or paddle and use it well before trying all the fine little tricks of super stones, crazy fine pastes (0.25), etc....

Tony

Thanks for the advice and thread links re: hanging the strop... Maybe I will go for some sort of hook after all. "Crude" was probably a poor choice of words If I hook it to a towel bar I'm pretty sure I'll end up ripping the bar off.

I have little kids running around so I have to figure out a spot to put it where the kids won't get to it, or else have a secondary "storage spot". Pondering shaving in the guest bathroom after I shower in the master bathroom, just to keep the stuff away from the kids and the humidity.