Getting more drag from:Straight Razor Designs Premium 1 Leather

So I got my order from SRD a norton 4/8 stone and moduler paddle with chromium paste for the scrub leather.Went through all the steps lapping the stone on 400 grit sandpaper,pasting the scrub leather and oiling the smooth leather with the neats foot oil 3 times over 3 days.Honing my Imperial razor went well,nice even bevel and a mirror edge after running over the pasted scrub leather.The thing is when I stropped on the smooth leather,50 passes,I felt no drag.So I'm puzzled as to whether it did anything for the blade or not?

Previous to this I was honing on an old hard ark stone and stropping with a belt treated with mink oil and hung on a towel rack.When I stropped this way I could hear and feel the drag.Have I been shaving off the paste or is the new strop doing it's job even though I can't feel it or hear it?Should I use some pressure to make the paddle flex like a hanging strop?Putting pressure on an old blade scares me.

Or would using some mink oil get the feedback I'm looking for?

Either way thanks Lynn for the tools to get this old razor to shave for me!Next will be a new razor from SRD.:D:D

P.S. I have not tried the diamond spray on the wool felt.I do however love the SRD uncented soap I got!

P.S.S. How long will it take for the bald patch on my arm to grow back?:hmmm:

The bald patch never grows back, it just migrates to different parts of your arm, and sometimes mysteriously jumps over to the other arm. Some kind of rare infection called Hone Mange.

I wouldn't put any pressure on the paddle. Nice light, smooth strokes, and you'll be there. It just going to take a while to get used to....like going from a Blackberry to a touch phone. You'll get there, just give it some time.

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Originally Posted by Edwardd

P.S.S. How long will it take for the bald patch on my arm to grow back?:hmmm:

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That depends on whether it was BBS or not.

Some leather has more draw than others. I've got a strop that I really like that has very little draw and it's made out of horsehide (i think). When the leather has too much draw, I tend to subconsciously lift either the spine or edge of the razor while stropping. YMMV

You may recall one of Lynn's tips for beginners about increasing draw by rubbing the surface w/ your palm. 'Seems to be about right when the surface begins to warm up.

This is a lesson Glen taught me that was missing from my routine. Something about heating up the leather bringing the oils to the surface of the leather. :)

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Originally Posted by pinklather

You may recall one of Lynn's tips for beginners about increasing draw by rubbing the surface w/ your palm. 'Seems to be about right when the surface begins to warm up.

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One of the best things about the Modular Paddle is that if you want more (or less) draw all you have to do is change the leather pad. I have a couple that have a ton of draw. Also, you may find that over time you favor a light draw with some razors and a heavy draw with others.

Give Don a call and he can help you sort out how to get the most out of what you already have or point you towards something more suitable.

That's what was missing,warming the leather with my hand.It worked great!Thanks guys.:beer1:

Sweet success! :)

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Originally Posted by Edwardd

That's what was missing,warming the leather with my hand.It worked great!Thanks guys.:beer1:

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What also helps is at the end of your shave and do your post shave stropping and take a bit, not too much, and rub it into the leather. Great for the leather and the razor!

maby it just needs to break in a bit?

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Originally Posted by sleekandsmooth

maby it just needs to break in a bit?

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Rub your palm on it several times before stropping, not only it will warm the leather, your hand oils will help with conditioning and breaking in.

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Originally Posted by Edwardd

Either way thanks Lynn for the tools to get this old razor to shave for me!Next will be a new razor from SRD.:D:D

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Thanks to my wife for the gift,I now have a new Dovo Best Quality 6/8 full hollow.It's much thicker and wider than the imperial thus a lighter touch when shaving to avoid the burn.The edge feels a bit harsh so I may give it 10 or less laps on the cromium pasted leather just to soften the touch a bit.But I'm nervous about messing up a new blade so I'll give it a few shaves before doing that.

Thanks again Lynn,and my wife for a great razor and shave!

Edwardd, you may find the leathers that have the most draw more difficult to keep the stroke light. I certainly did. So I went to the leathers w/ lighter draw. This made stropping easier, but I lost the benefit of the high-draw leather. I've gone back to latigo for its high-draw properties and learned to keep it light. After stroking on the high-draw leather, I switch to a low-draw leather, and have been quite pleased w/ the result. Disclaimer: I stroke alot more than sane people do.