paddle strop? confused to which side gets paste

hey guys, i'm a complete noob when it comes to straights, i just bought my first kit (Thiers Issard Complete Straight Razor Set Black, Save $35 | Fendrihan Shaving Store)

and im somewhat lost as where to start! ive shaved with it about 5 times, and its definatly getting alot less bloody! :P

ive had it maybe a month, shaved about 5 times and i'm wondering when i'm supposed to strop it, and how exactly.

it came with a generic photocopy sheet which didnt really answer anything, just made more questions.

the paddle strop has a soft black side of leather, somewhat fuzzy
a tan side which is smooth

anyways, im reading websites saying i dont need to hone, just a lightly pasted strop, but which side do i put the paste on?? how much? (paste description says :Thiers Issard sharpening paste.
The non-toxic sharpening paste is specially formulated with diamond particles and aluminum oxide to attain the sharpening properties of a 10,000 sharpening stone. Ideal for keeping your straight razor sharp and smooth.)

do i need a hone? the razors sharp, instructions say use 'palm oil', wth is that? i just want to keep it sharp.

so confused haha any help would be appreciated :)

Paste goes on the rough side for occasional touch ups. The smooth side is used daily and should not be pasted. If you just rub your hand on it every day before use, the oils in your hand will keep it conditioned.

ok cool, thank you for the quick reply

the rough side, would that be the tan side or the fuzzy black side? (dumb question, but i dont wanna mess my razor up lol)

how much paste do you put on your strop?

with this, if done properly, i shouldnt need a hone ever correct?

thanks again :)

Paste will go on the fuzzy dark side. Paste should be minimal. If you look in the Wiki I think there is are instructions for pasting a strop. Basically, a little goes a long way and you don't need a lot. Paste can extend the time between honings but it does not eliminate the need for it.

bmxhooligan,

Please be sparing when appying any paste to the TI strop. It is very easy to 'glue up' the suedey finish - I know I have done it :(

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

I believe this paddles strop isn't intended to be pasted as the seude side acts as the linen/canvass and the leather side acts as the stropping finish. Yes, you can paste the suede side as advised. But, this paddle strop seems very nice as it is and it looks like something easy to travel with. Plus if you pasted the suede side, its too challenging to unpaste it.

You may want to consider buying another 4 sided leather paddle strop and applying different rated pastes on 1-4 sides. I have one of these and they keep my straight razors sharp for a very long time between stone honings.

Welcome to Straight Shaving!

Pabster

ok so DONT paste it! haha can you see why i joined this forum lol cuz all the stuff i read says do this or dont do this

so i should by a 4 sided one, and when i paste it, do i just dab some on as its pretty thick, or do i mix it with water?

using just what i have right now, the razor and strop, will i be able to keep my razor sharp for a while, as ive already spent 350 bucks on the set and planned on getting my stepdad the same set, but i dont wanna make him or myself have to buy a bunch more stuff. i was explained that the set i bought 'has everything i need and nothing more'

thanks for the replies

Sorry for the confusion. I don't generally use pasted strops but I know some people do use paste on the suede-like side. Of course, that doesn't mean it is, or is not, a good idea!
:fim:

I purchase my 4 sided leather paddle strop from Tony Miller. Nice work and pasted three sides with .50/1.0/3.0 Chrom Ox. I applied just a little of each on each side and spread it thin and even until it was a very light haze.

.50 gets the most use and only about 10 passes for a touch up of the edge. My stainless steel blades get the most use of the 1.0 and 3.0 sides. This all serves as a very light honing and keeps the edges tuned to my preference. Overall, I consider this a valuable too. Perhaps a barber hone and a finishing stone can do the same thing. I went to Europe for a month and brought along my paddle strop and stropped the blade on the leather side and an occasional .50 pass or two and it worked like a charm.

So it works well for me and yes, I thought I was all set with my set up until I added this to my set up.

Good Luck,

Pabster

bmxhooligan,

There is a couple things you can do with your paddle and the paste you have. As suggested you can leave as it is and use the rough side of the paddle like you would canvas and then go to the leather side to finish or you can paste the rough side and just use the leather. You will find people on here that will say you need canvas and some that say you only need leather. So for that you will have to figure out on your own.

Now if you decided you want to paste the rough side and later decided that you want a canvas type strop in the wiki there is a nice set of instructions for making a denim strop, from an old pair of jeans, that works very nicely in that role.

If you decided you don't want to paste the rough side you can go to a local craft store and buy a piece of balsa wood, which is in the 4-8 dollar us range, and apply the paste to this. This method will be a little more a aggressive on the blade and to use Thiers Issard’s terminology, which I don’t really like cause paste and stones a very different, may make your paste cut more like a 8-9K stone than rather a 10k stone but for what you want it for it really won't make a difference.

Now applying the paste there are some good instructions in the wiki as pointed out by Utopian. The basic premise is that when the paste is dry you should just be able to tell it is there. As for mixing it with oil most any type of oil will work. I personally use Hoppes number 9 gun oil, cause that is what I have, I know some people use mineral oil. The idea with this is to make it easier to spread the paste on the paddle or balsa so only add enough to the paste to make it slightly liquefied. To apply it you would go down your surface placing light x’s along the length, with your index finger, and then going back and rubbing it along the whole surface. It doesn’t need to be uniformed along the whole surface you still want the leather or the balsa to be able to breath that is way this down with the minimal amount of paste.

Now using the pasted paddle strop or balsa is done the same way. The first thing is to make sure the paddle has dried completely. For this it is best to let it sit for at least a couple days but a week is better. Then as you are using it for touch ups you will strop for 5 laps like you would on regular leather then wipe the blade down as you will have some transfer of the paste to the blade and you do not want this on your everyday leather strop. You will then strop like normal and then test shave a spot on your face if the blade is still not like you like it go back and do 5 more laps on the pasted strop or balsa and so on and so on till you get the blade to the sharpness you want. The key at this point is to make sure your stropping is good and the whole blade is getting sharpened. I know 5 laps doesn’t seem like it will do much but it does and you don’t want to over sharpen the blade as you can cause damage to the blade that way that can only be fixed by taking the blade back to the stones.

When to use the pasted strop is a matter of preference some people say that you should only use the pasted strop after the blade begins to tug and pull. Some say once a month, others say once a week and some after a certain amount of use out of the blade. I don’t see anything wrong with any of these but personally I do about once a week give or take. But I shave everyday with my razor.

The paste itself should last on the strop or wood for a fair amount of time depending on how often you use it. Here you will just have to decide when there is not enough paste on the surface to get the job done.

Hope this helps and Good Luck

Joe

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bmxhooligan

ive had it maybe a month, shaved about 5 times and i'm wondering when i'm supposed to strop it, and how exactly.

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Based on what I've read here in the beginner's guide and the stropping threads, it seems that most (including me) strop before every shave, and quite a few (also including me) strop post-shave as well. How may laps? Well, there's a lot of variation out there. I usually do 50 canvas/100 leather pre-shave, and 25 canvas/50 leather after the razor's had time to dry thoroughly post-shave. However, I've got 5 razors in rotation. If you've only got one razor, you may only need to strop once between shaves. How many laps? Up to you. Or if you're getting comfortable shaves without stropping, maybe you don't need to strop even that often. I can't do that--my face won't take it.

I have a pasted balsa strop (FeO on one side, CrO on the other) that I use only when stropping on canvas and leather doesn't give me a comfortable shave. I've got one razor that has seemed to require that more often than others; others in my rotation I haven't had to use that at all yet (I've had them all about the same length of time, several months at this point). So far I've only had to use the FeO side. Be aware that every time you use a pasted strop, you're removing metal.

Anyway, that 's what works for me. As always, YMMV. Good luck!

bmxhooligan,

Sorry forgot about the first part of your question but Durhampiper was kind enough to take care of it. I will add that you should start by watching as many stroping vids on you tube as you can till you feel you got the basic idea down.

Here a couple good starting points

First one is in german with subtitles in english but shows how to use a paddle strop.
YouTube - Abledern des Rasiermessers - Stropping your razor

The second is Kenrups vids which can also be found in the wiki
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CC6K4CeLwxY

This third one is a pretty good overview
YouTube - mokujingris1's Channel

Hey,

I bought the same kit as you, and I started maybe a month ago now. I found that I absolutely have to use the pasted strop before every shave. I'm still not getting a really good shave but it's getting better.

The funny thing was for the first week or two, I noticed, I kept having a similar quality of shave, and I was wondering why I wasn't improving. Then I tried using the pasted strop, and realized, that my skill was getting better as the razor was getting duller and they were canceling each other out. After honing with the pasted strop it was a dramatic improvement, but still not as sharp as it was when I first got the razor. The paste that comes with the kit is 10000 grit, and is between 2 and 3 micron.
I'm going to get some 1 micron paste and another strop and see if I can get it really sharp.

**EDIT** I think I forgot, I had thoroughly stropped on the leather before, during, and after shaving. The stropping on leather just wasn't cutting it. Maybe I wasn't pressing hard enough.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dcollier

The stropping on leather just wasn't cutting it. Maybe I wasn't pressing hard enough.

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Actually, you just want the edge of the razor to be in light contact with the strop. Pressing the razor down against the strop will only dull the edge. You really only need the weight of the razor on the strop to get the job done. If you're new to this and started with a truly shave-ready razor, I'd look at technique before assuming the razor's not up to snuff.

thank you all very much for this information!

straight razors are deffinatly intimidating and i'm glad you guys all help us new people out with our questions :)

i appreciate all your answers