Thread: All good things comes to those who wait... and those who don't end up waiting anyway.

Well, shaving has been on hold for a little while due to I made the rookie mistake of getting a cheap strop.. I don't mean just in price but quality... When I first saw it I knew it needed some treatment.. Not just oil, but needed to be sanded and everything. The leather was not smooth at all.. Buuuuut instead of being patient (My wife and I have an agreement on how much we spend on our hobbies a month) I tried to cram it all in one shot. So, I have a nice razor, decent brush, I even have MWF soap... but I dropped the ball on the strop thinking (well leather is leather)... So, I get it and first off it was dry... I mean worse than a fake leather belt dry... Figured... hmmm ok.. I will soak it in needs foot and bring it back... (had a friend who did falconry and I use to help him work on his leather stuff and saww him deal with worse leather than what i got)... but before that it was textured something fierce... so again.. I figured... Hmmmm Sand it down (in steps of course) and then it should be all good.. (See not only was I thinking "hey I will save some money and be able to go ahead and start shaving" but I kept reading about messing up the first strop and such).. I had even read on here to practice with a butterknife... and I even one upped it and used a belt instead of the strop... it took some time and I got the hang of it.

SO on to the strop again.. I sanded it.. soaked it.. let it dry.. then gave it a last sanding with very fine sandpaper... I figured that would be that... Yea no.. After my shaves I noticed it wasnt as sharp as it should be.. research... read it might be user error and such so I check.. recheck and check again.. all is well.. In fact I have a nice leather belt that did better than the strop I got... However, couldn't justify working over a nice cordovan belt I just needed a comparison. I am now waiting for the SRD paddle strop with a full beard...

The moral of the story..... Yes I am new to straight razor shaving.. and my eagerness cost me two things.. One, I wasted 23.00 that could have gone towards a nice strop... in fact the more I thought about it the more I realized that a paddle strop would be awesome for a beginner because no matter what brand you get you can ALWAYS replace the leather on it... The modular strop is just straight up a godsend just because it can be changed magnetically.. either way... so basically I have a cheap 23.00 set of hanging strop hardware that looks like something I could build out of scrap sheet metal and a key ring... Also the second thing it cost me was one of my razors is now honed down pretty good.. I can get an awesome shave after a hone (well at least better than after using the cheap strop) and when I started straight razor shaving my head my head stubble would eat up sharpness like a sugar addict on a jumbo bag of M&Ms.... When i started to notice the difference in the blade I had to stop, (which of course was like the same sugar addict three days later locked in the room with the empty bag)...

I know it has been said to death on here.... and I will be the millionth one... don't skimp on the strop.. Bad part is I have even told my wife "You get what you pay for" and here I went and tried to cut the corner..... Even if you are budget minded... because in the end, you will end up getting the good one anyway... and the bad part is you can get a really nice piece of latigo, and make one for a lot less and it STILL would out do the Ebay specials... there is only one plus out of it... I now have a 3/8 to 4/8 razor that I can maneuver around my lip area...(not quite talented enough to put the straight equivelent of a clever in those area)... So.. Quality Quality Quality... it pays off in the end....

In the end, you'll be very pleased with the SRD Paddle Strop. I have three strops, two nice hanging ones and the Paddle Strop. It's so convenient and easy to use that I haven't touched or even looked at my other ones in weeks. I do use the linen on one of my hanging strops but would use the Paddle for that if it had linen available.

It will be here on May the 2nd.... It's ok though it will give me some time to work on a restoration and not get the DTs... hahahah just kidding.. I really can't wait to try it though...

Thanks for posting Nerv.

Old Axiom I've always found to be true: "Only rich people can afford to buy cheap things."

Me, I can't afford to buy cheap things OR expensive things.

Hey I am right there with you BigJim, Retirement isn't as economically great as some of my friends seem to think it is... Get paid once a month.. have to ration out the pennies... But there is absolutely nothing wrong with making your own stuff either. Quality does not mean expensive, as I have found out. The paddle strop is more of an early birthday gift and me being lazy I guess. Well that and until we close on a house we are buying now I can't get my shop up and running, but once that happens I am going to start making all kinds of stuff... I have even started working on soap recipes.. The good thing about making your own stuff (even your own razors) is that you know what goes into it, and you can make something just as good or even better than the manufactured items... Take for instance the strop... piece of wood... piece of very good quality leather (cordovan is almost impossible to find as just the leather itself though but possible)... and a little creativity and elbow grease (or motor grease if you're using power tools)... but in the end for the price that I spent on that cheap ebay strop I could have made TWO high quality very nice paddle strops...

All in all I was just hoping this will keep someone from making the same mistake... but hey.. we are guys and we don't listen anyway... Hahahahahah

Ha ha ha! Listen!? What's that?

House buying/selling is a pain is it not? We're trying to sell one right now. An extra mortgage payment and utilities (even though we aren't using them) are not friendly to my desires for razor goods, nor our savings account! Want to move to South Dakota?

I agree. A quality strop makes a lot of difference. I have two good strops, a quality SRD hanging strop and a SRD two-sided leather paddle.

I made the mistake of buying the very best SRD hanging strop as my beginner strop so it has lots of boo-boos on it. Fortunately, sandpaper and Neat-Foots oil has repaired it. I was able to get an older two-sided leather SRP paddle strop NIB from a B&B member for a great price. As a Newbie, I find that my stropping is much more even and effective on the paddle. It works really well and eliminates the added problem of keeping the tension just right on the hanging strop. YMMV.

I finally got both strops.... the one from SRD and the laptop set from Star shaving... I am working on a post that one person attemted before but never finished....

DLB you know I have to agree that I like the paddle style a whole lot better.... but some people (most really) seem to like the hanging strops.... I personally like the better control and stability... to each his own I guess...

Glad you got 'em in, and glad you're happy with them.

I tried laying a hanging strop on a table...not quite the same as a paddle, but it didn't seem to work reall well for me. Then I tried the hanging strop and while there was some experimentation in height, angle, etc. it all seemed more natural for me.

To each his own!

Ok... I strarted a thread on stropping.. I am going to track the progression of a blade from stropping..

Confessions of a blade

I hope some will get some usefull information out of it..