My razor came today but no strop yet...

I bought a vintage razor from the classifieds at a great price (geneva cutlery), in great condition, shave ready. Working with the buyer was a breeze. I'm so excited to put my shavette on the shelf for good! Only one problem, my strop didn't come yet! Should be here in a couple days. Is there anything else I can strop with in the mean time. I thought I heard someone say news paper works well in between honings. But you guys are the pros, it will be hard but should I just wait. Anticipation is killing me. Haha.

Thank you all!

If it's new, and was marked shave ready, you don't need to strop before the first shave. You should probably strop afterwards though, but that isn't necessary... Just wait to shave a second time...

Also, if you want to strop -again, DON'T strop before the first shave even if you have a strop... You may roll the edge just from being new- However, if you want to strop after the first shave to keep the edge clean, just cut a strip out of an old pair of jeans... Hang on... I'll find a link

As a pro;) I say try and keep using it until the strop arrives.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...-homemade.html

Just cut out a 4'' strip of denim, and pull it tight over a piece of 2x4 then staple it down ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE of the stropping surface


http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...made-stop.html

The top of this could be done with strings of the right lenght, tied in loops.. But a hanging denim strop works great

Stuff like that is easily done, and effective... 60 laps on denim should set you right..

AGAIN, ONLY STROP AFTER THE SHAVE. You want to make sure yo uknow what a freshly honed, fully sharp razor should feel like

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Originally Posted by ShavedZombie

If it's new, and was marked shave ready, you don't need to strop before the first shave....

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The above statement is generally true... if a honemeister was the person who last touched your blade. That is to say that honemeisters usually have enough experience honing many different makes and models that they can achieve the maximum sharpness out of any reputable brand of straight razor. And then they strop the blade before shipping it, so it shouldn't need stropping prior to a first shave.

The reality is that I'm of the mindset you you should always strop before shaving no matter who honed your blade, so I'm biased.

You (the OP) said that the razor was bought from the classifieds. Without knowing who honed your blade it'd say it's a gamble to skip on the stropping. I stropped on my first shave and didn't have any adverse effects. Wait until your strop arrives so you can at least you have the option of stropping in case things don't go as planned.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JoeTheCarpenter

I bought a vintage razor from the classifieds at a great price (geneva cutlery), in great condition, shave ready. Working with the buyer was a breeze. I'm so excited to put my shavette on the shelf for good! Only one problem, my strop didn't come yet! Should be here in a couple days. Is there anything else I can strop with in the mean time. I thought I heard someone say news paper works well in between honings. But you guys are the pros, it will be hard but should I just wait. Anticipation is killing me. Haha.

Thank you all!

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Joe,

I read somewhere in the SRP forums that you can also strop a razor on a newspaper. Here it is:

i took the advise of trying some stropping on newspaper. last nite the 6/8 wacker 1/4 hollow was stropped 100 newspaper and when i started to strop it on the leather it was singing more than it ever had before. after 100 laps on the leather it was on to the shave test. OMG this razor has never been so smooth and so sharp at the same time, it sounded like i was shaving with a full hollow,BBS. thanks for the tips!! give it a try.
__________________
Nessmuck

Thank you all very much for the input! I used the razor tonight and it was a smoother experience than with my shavette!
When shaving WTG there would always be a few hairs under my chin and at the bottom of my neck that laid so flat to my skin I would have to pull and shave in many different directions in order to get them. The new razor had no problems.
Thanks again for your input!

I have used newspaper with great success... I did a few test shaves with only newsprint stropping and it worked like a charm. Good luck!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JoeTheCarpenter

Thank you all very much for the input! I used the razor tonight and it was a smoother experience than with my shavette!
When shaving WTG there would always be a few hairs under my chin and at the bottom of my neck that laid so flat to my skin I would have to pull and shave in many different directions in order to get them. The new razor had no problems.
Thanks again for your input!

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Glad to hear your experience went well, regardless of our speculations.

You'll probably want to wait for your strop on the subsequent shaves as you will notice a drop in keeness.

Enjoy,

Ryan

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ryan82

The above statement is generally true... if a honemeister was the person who last touched your blade. That is to say that honemeisters usually have enough experience honing many different makes and models that they can achieve the maximum sharpness out of any reputable brand of straight razor. And then they strop the blade before shipping it, so it shouldn't need stropping prior to a first shave.

The reality is that I'm of the mindset you you should always strop before shaving no matter who honed your blade, so I'm biased.

You (the OP) said that the razor was bought from the classifieds. Without knowing who honed your blade it'd say it's a gamble to skip on the stropping. I stropped on my first shave and didn't have any adverse effects. Wait until your strop arrives so you can at least you have the option of stropping in case things don't go as planned.

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+1
And a comment. Try it first.

The general (exception) reason to not strop a new
blade is that for a novice stropping badly is possible.
A well honed, well stropped and lightly oiled blade will
stay sharp traveling between the shop and you.
So try it first....

If you read a lot of posts it is common read about
folks that hone, strop, test with a shave and if necessary hone,
strop and retest...

Stropping should improve a blade not the other way...
so "Try it first" on some of the easy bits of the face.
i.e. It can be important to know what you started with.