Thread: Stropping issues

Originally Posted by ShavedZombie

It's not worth having to send that razor back to Onimaru :P!

I can see it now...

*head shake*

"Cassie, do strop with your feet or something? I can try to hone it, but honestly, I think it's scared of you now."

Originally Posted by MistressNomad

I can see it now...

[...]

"I think it's scared of you now."

Bad Pun Inbound in 3... 2... 1...

You would give it a Frowning blade

*Ba-dum PSH*

Originally Posted by MistressNomad

Jeremy - You may be right. I do cover a *lot* more surface area than your typical guy. I'm sure some of it is my stropping, but I may also need to touch them up more often than you guys do. I wonder if any other ladies have found this?

Each of them probably have 6 to 8 shaves under their belts.

I'd say that after 13-17 shaves I usually take the razor to a pasted strop, but I love to strop, so I may be imagining the tugs just so I can strop more.. It's fun for me... However, Since that hair is thicker/stiffer and there's more of it, I'd say that 10-20 shaves from the leg should be time to touch up... I'd look into a Barber Hone were I you... Honing is difficult to learn, but BARBER hones are quite easy if you be careful when you start... 6 passes, keep the blade perfectly flat, use water or lather as the medium and voila, shavin' sharp again.

And they're like 30 bucks... So, rather than looking for a fabric, I'd actually look for a Keen Kutter, Itsa Peach, or somethign like that... Browse the Classifieds, maybe ebay... Talk to -I think- Glen... Someoen on this forum is reputable about Barber Hones, and I think it's Glen (GsSixGun)

But yes... I'm thinking a Barber Hone is definitely the next step for you... That, and a bigger (Wider) strop, or at least some better anchoring hardware...

If you have a pair of jeans you can sacrifice (or can get hold of some raw denim), you can use a double thickness of the denim to make a two sided fabric strop.

You can then paste one side of it and leave the other side clean for daily use.

If you want an easy paste for the strop, spray the denim with spray starch and then rub it down with a piece of chalk. This will transfer chalk dust onto the fabric and starch will cause it to stick.

You can use this chalk paste everyday if you want. I do laps on a linen strop with chalk paste every day and it really helps keep my edges.

You can use this design, but instead of leather use two strips of denim.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwi...ome-made_strop

Or theres this method:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwi...p_out_of_denim

You could also make a paddle strop by gluing some leather to some wood. You can put leather on both sides and CrOx one side if you want to, or do leather one side and denim the other.

Good luck!

That's a good one Stu, I completely forgot about Denim strops... That would be a really easy alternative..'

And I like this chalk idea.... Hmm....

I actually have a barber hone on the way! I'm acquiring things... oh no...

Hmm, chalk... didn't think of that.

What brand/size of barber hone? Because that should do everythign you need. Hell, denim strops work fine un-pasted, I can't speak to the Chalk, but that sounds pretty brilliant.

I'd say try making a denim strop, and work with the Barber hone, you'll be popping hairs in no time

Ok, just tried it anchored to my towel rack. I'd say that took away 90% of the problem right there. I had a much more even sound stropping.

But the top did still want to twist a tiny bit. This may be just due to it having been used on that doorknob for a while. I'll give it a rub and try to get it staying straight again. I'm hoping it's not just a natural instability of the way I'm holding it.

I tried stropping away and towards me, like most of you do, and I just can't control my motor movement as well. Whatever I may be doing wrong now, that's going to make it 100 times worse.

If I can't get the it worked out, I'll try table top.

Jeremy - It's a Shumate Electric barber hone. I know nothing at all about it!

I know very little about it too, but I've heard the name Shumate, and never in a bad context, so that's a great start!

Also, for the mildly warmped strop, lay it flat on a table or desk, take a beer, wine, or other glass bottle -perfectly smooth- and rub it firmly top to bottom, bottom to top. Make sure you don't rub with the seam of the bottle... That'll help it smooth

Some folks have had good luck with seat belt material for the fabric component. If you have a junk yard nearby you could try a length of that stuff.