I just recieved my first Dovo razor from SRD so it was professionlly sharpened (Thanks Lynn) My question is how often should I strop to keep getting a close shave?.
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I just recieved my first Dovo razor from SRD so it was professionlly sharpened (Thanks Lynn) My question is how often should I strop to keep getting a close shave?.
First off, do not strop before your first shave. Your razor will not need to be stropped when you get it, so fight the urge and just try to shave a small patch to get the feel of it.
After your first shave, give it some very careful laps on the strop. I strop after the shave to clean the edge so there is no water/soap residue, but some guys prefer to strop before their shave.
That's basically it, you should strop either before or after each shave.
After getting it back from Lynn its good to go. Just lather up and shave. He sends it to you 100% shave ready.
You will strop each time thereafter before you shave with it.
I cant find Lynns video but heres one by another member of stopping
straight razor stropping - YouTube
I strop on linen 40 strokes and 100 on leather. Up and down counts as one stroke.I do this before every shave!!
Minds are blown when they realize how important stropping is. But as already said, DO NOT strop your razor before your fist shave. It came stropped and ready.
Really, you can strop as often as you like, but try as a minimum to strop before each shave. Unless you do it wrong, stropping cannot hurt the razor. The more you (correctly) strop the better you will become at it, and the better you become at it the better your shaves will be. I'd recommend stropping for no longer than a couple of minutes (probably less) at any one time or if you feel fatigue in your hands/fingers - sure-fire way to wreck the edge.
So, in summary, strop often, in short-ish bursts is my advice.
James.
I strop on lien after my shave to clean the edge. I strop on leather before I shave. You could do both after you shave.
my razor sensay taught me to strop an razor before every shave. dont forget to put some good natural conditioner for the leather
oh, and dont forget that stropping wont stop you from needing to sharpen your razor correctly once in awhile.
I strop 45 laps on the cloth and 50 laps leather before each shave and 10 laps cloth after each shave to dry the edge.
I strop before every shave and a little after to dry the edge. I'll also strop after I touch the blade up on the hone, again to dry the edge before I put it away. I believe some folk strop between passes while shaving. To each their own.
I make 25-30 strokes on my Kanayama strop before each shaving. I think that's enough.
1) DO NOT strop your razor before your first shave. That's only because you just got it from honing, and the cutler/honemiester (in this case Lynn) stropped it before sending it to you.
2) I strop before every shave to give a fresh non-oxidized edge for me to shave with. I wipe my blade on a towel by pinching it with the towel wrapped around the spine to dry it after the shave, but you could strop instead. I strop 30x linen, and 50x leather before each shave.
The video that's been posted is a great one, and one of our community's best cutlers/honemiesters, Sham AKA hi_bud_gl
I'd encourage you to read this thread too for a full education on stropping:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...ping-king.html
Best of luck on your new adventure!
Peace,
Jim
thank you for your suggestions. I have been shaving with it while my strop arrives. You have been very helpful
Thanks for the thread it has been very helpful.Quote:
Originally Posted by BigJim
Glad to be of help.Quote:
Originally Posted by ebraz96
Peace,
Jim
My strop is leather on one side and kind of like sand paper on the other The 2nd strop is almost like a mesh. Can you tell me when to use which sides
I usually do so before and after each shave.
It might help to know where you got your strop, but a good shop should be leather. (period) And then linen/denim/canvas/nylon something.Quote:
Originally Posted by Donboblo
My regular stropping routine hasn't changed in the last four years (give or take) since I last posted in this page. Use the mesh strop every shave...I use 32 strokes...why 32...I don't know. 30ish seems to be best. There's no end to the debate here, but doing more than that doesn't seem to give me any benefit...less and my edges don't seem to stay as nice as long. So I strop on canvas every morning before my shave.
Then I strop on the leather (the smooth side not the flesh side of the leather) 53 strokes; every morning before every shave. Never use the other side for razors. Some wood workers use the flesh/sandpaper side for chisels and knives and I'm sure that means somebody out there uses that side for their razors, there's no need and some potential risk. 50ish strokes seems to be the most common and I've tried more and less but that seems to be what works best for me.
Peace,
Jim
I do 50 linen and 80 leather. No real reason, I guess it just works for me.
My routine is 20 laps after the shave(only have leather strop for now) and 60 laps before the shave. I'm still a newbie so i took my time and i make sure the blade is flat all the time on the strop and i dont use exesive presure. My stropping skill is getting better cause my shaves to, to my opinion it goes together.
I strop 25 on linen and 50 on leather before the shave. After i strop 20/20 to clean and dry the razor. Then I re-oil and put back in holder.
It's odd that most people seem to go with 20 linen and 50 leather when they strop but when I contacted Dovo they told me only to use between 6 to 10 strokes and that I should leave the razor 24-48 hours after shaving before it is stropped. They said that the blade needs this time to straighten out the tiny deformations caused by shaving. I'm now confused as the people who make one of the better blades on the market say one thing yet clearly this community which contains many experienced people say another. Whose right? lol
Ok first of all they sell razors, so that is a good reason to tell you that to rest the blade, so you need two, Myth only. Second they also say their razors are shave ready, myth only. Did a barber back in the day rest his razor when he did 10'shaves a day? Ok now you don't have any concerns, oh and one f the better blades on the market? Now that's number 4. They are a decent middle of the road manufacture that mass produces, so don't get carried away, there are better razor makers. Tc
Many differing opinions found when I started almost 2 long months ago. Did a lot of reading and decided on 15 rough leather and 30 on smooth after shave. Then 60 smooth before shave. Works for me as shave is still comfortable and blade is still sharp. This topic is YMMV dependant....
Strop your razor right before every shave. 30 laps on the linen, and 60 laps on the leather. This is my opinion, and this is what I do. Works well for all of my razors.
Everybody has their ritual. I only do 10-15 leather before and 2-3 linen after to dry the edge
50 on fabric/50 on leather before.
About 10-15 on both fabric and leather afterward
Everybody's routine becomes a very personal set of steps. My morning routine is, after shower, etc, including building a lather, is rinse the blade to remove some of the mineral oil, dry, do 6 to 8 laps on a chalked linen, 35 on hard felt and anywhere from 45 to 120 laps on leather, depending on how I feel about that particular razor and it's current edge. I have heard of some doing leather upwards of 300 laps. After the shave I rinse the blade and do a wash with a small touch of dish washing detergent, dry as thoroughly as possible and apply a thin layer of mineral oil. I avoid, at all times getting water on the scales. Good to go till next time. This is my mileage in the YMMV syndrome.
Thanks to all the replies. I must admit that the woman at Dovo did seem a tough "shouty" in her reply to me. She was trying to blame the dull edge of my new Dovo on me "over stropping" it.
Thinking about the busy barber shaving endless faces day in day out it makes perfect sense that it's fine to strop pretty much any time. But once gain thanks for reassuring me because the 6-10 strokes advised by Dovo leads to painful shaving lol
So does that factory edge, get it honed,mand then your stropping technique will lead to wonderfully smooth shaves, but get it honed, by a competent person who actually uses them. Tc
Now that i shaved for a year i get more experience, my routine is right after the shave i do 30 laps on the linen and 60 or 80 on leather(60 for 5/8 or less, 80 for others). I also do 30 laps before the shave to have a freshly strop razor.Quote:
Originally Posted by Papabear11
30/60 seems to be the consensus. My routine follows this ratio.
Frank
Could anybody recommend somebody in the UK who could hone the razor for me?
I can help. There are also a few other members about as well, check the classifieds if you want to see who is offering whatQuote:
Originally Posted by Supadik
Coming from Gssixgun one of the top honemasters here, and confirmed as I do it myself....best strop conditioner is the natural oil from the palm of your hand. whenever you pass by your strop,run the palm of your hand up and down the strop. works great.:angel:Quote:
Originally Posted by cjglancy
If Lynn honed your razor then don't worry about stropping the first time you get it back . After that it's your personal choice and what works for you,there are no hard and fast rules. Every one here has a different combination of reps,before and or after etc. Not trying to be vague but this seriously is and individual thing. What's more important is getting your stropping technique down ,everything else is your preference. :chapeau