2nd attempt!

Well after a fair go last night, I thought I'd have another try tonight.

1st off Ben has also given me an off cut of leather to fashion a strop from and I was going to try and attach some ends but had the idea of just shutting one end in a draw and holding the other. Well that worked pretty well do considering I'm new to this I thought I'd just strop it 25 times then try a shave.

Tonight's shave was much more pleasing I made a good attempt at all areas with a WTG pass. Shaving left handed and coordinating my movements while looking in the mirror is going to take some time, as is working out what strokes, grips and hand to use when and how best to stretch the skin as needed.

As a 2nd go I'm really pleased, to be honest there were plenty of patched which needed to be cleaned up with a DE but I think I got more of an idea on angle, no nicks and no harsh feedback from the alum.

Finished with another 25 strokes on the strop, which is another thing I was pleased with. I was concerned that my 1st attempt at stropping might have a detrimental effect on the edge but it seemed as though it was reasonable.

All in all a very promising 2nd attempt.

Sounds like your off and running. Many vintage strops had no hardware or handle on the bottom like the newer ones today. You simply held it with two fingers. There was hardware on one end to secure it to something.

Good job! Keep up with it and you'll be surprised how quickly everything comes together. Keep us posted.

Great second attempt. It took me about 25 shaves to get straight shaving down before the next stage of fine tuning the shave even further.

It only gets better and you may want to bump up the 25 passes on the stropping if you feel the edge isn't as sharp as you need it.

Pabster

Thanks gents

Yep I will increase the passes on the strop but I was concious that my technique might do more harm than good, initially.

Sounds like you're off to a good start! Just keep at it, take it slow and you'll get there.

+1 on increasing your stropping. I do 30 fabric and 60 leather before, and then 15 fabric and 25 leather afterwards.

Good luck and keep us posted!

I don't think I sent a "hello, and fancy bumping into you here" your way so far, so ey up, Jeltz. You seem to be taking to it well, and enjoying yourself.

Hello Andy, http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs41/f/20...onutflakes.gif

Thanks, yes nice to see a few familiar faces :) I am indeed enjoying finding my feet here, and must say that the welcome and advice I've received have been great.

See you about here, there and everywhere ;)

Nic