Don't drop a lot for your first strop

Attachment 93733

My first three strops

In the back is my newest from the Whipped Dog.

$22 with honing pastes on a balsa strop and Neatsfoot oil

Good strop to chop while learning.

The center is my first hanging strop an old belt. It is very scarred.
Still works as well as anything else I have used.

The foreground strop is a travel strop from JRE Industries.
No draw and it works well.
Cost $15

These are good choices to learn with and will save you from chopping up a really nice SRD Premium.
I will be acquiring a really nice strop soon as my nicking and slicing have become a rare event.

Strop til you drop. Speed comes in direct proportion to number of strokes done correctly.

I just bought the same strop kit from whipped dog. That's the poor mans kit right? I hope it works out for you!

My objective is to try as many different approaches as my meager budget allows. Then when my budget allows I only have to buy my luxury gear once. Well that is what I am telling myself now but I fear there is a den full of brushes and strops and razors and soaps and whatnots in my future.

I went to my local tack shop and had them cut me a piece of 3 1/2" harness leather. $8.00; Perfect!

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Originally Posted by jbtusa

I went to my local tack shop and had them cut me a piece of 3 1/2" harness leather. $8.00; Perfect!

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I just ordered my first strop, a "big mama" from star shaving... its beautiful but I'm afraid im going to chop it up. I live in philadelphia and im not too familiar with horse stores but i know there are a few of those stores over the river in south jersey. Is carrying harness leather a common thing? or just those who specialize in leather? I may have to give that a shot until i become good at it.

Yes, all tack shops have harness leather. They use it for making harnesses, saddle skirting and chaps. Out west it's big business. Just tell them what you're using it for and they'll understand. You want smooth leather, they'll know.

I've considered going to a tack shop many times, but never went through with it. I'm glad it worked out for someone else. Maybe I'll revisit that idea in a few years. Thanks!

Boot and Shoe repair shops will often also carry leather for strops...


BTW If you guys slow down when learning to strop you will save your strops :) honest I still have my very first Illinois strop I bought in 1982 and yes it has some nicks but still works just fine... less than one lap per second, think that old way of counting seconds 1- 1000 2-1000 3-1000 slow and steady...

You might also want to explore the use of linen..

with you on that one glen im still using my first strop and its been 2 yrs and thousands of stroppings later and its in great shape the key is to treat it with care and take your time stropping its not a race its slow and steady and paying attention to what you are doing.

I just cannot agree with the "buy a cheap first strop because you will cut it" mentality. If you want to buy cheap because you don't have much free money or you're not sure if you'll stick with straights or something like that, fine. But if you are careful when you strop, you will not cut your strop. I have never nicked a strop. Just take some time to learn, practice with a dull object, slow down, whatever it takes.

I've been sharpening knives for a great long time, and have the habit of reversing stroke with the blade edge facing down. Most knife grips are made to facilitate this form of sharpening.

For straight razors, this is not the case, and I always reverse direction with spine side facing down. This reduced the frequency of nicked strops.

I agree 100% with Glen (gssixgun) and Dylan (holli4pirating) here.
Buying cheap and then buying a more expensive one is in the end costlier than buying a good one, and keeping it.

Plus if you nick a strop from SRD or a Tony Miller tri-strop you can get replacement parts.

Go slow and buy once.

Stropping speed increases in direct proportion to the number of correct strokes accomplished.

Total cost to date for cheap strops......$37.

Experience gained by using different types of leather priceless.

As for speed caused mistakes I don't possess good coordination. My first 40 lap stropping would take 4 sessions spread over 15 minutes and would include an occasional miscue resulting in damage to the stropping medium. After a year of practice I can do 60 laps in one session in about 3 minutes and I am preparing to make a purchase of a premium strop based on experience with different leathers and handle arrangements.

GO slow buy cheap buy alot and experience as much diversity as you can afford.

I learned on a 15 year old belt with an Imperial razor.My first buy was an SRD modular paddle strop and a Dovo best quality razor.The key is,go slow and pay attention,and above all have fun with this.You are about to do something that most men would not dare to try.

P.S. The thing is I never damaged the old belt.So I had no qualms about spending $90 dollars on that modular paddle as my first purchase.

Interesting thread - different views - I am new to straight razors and stropping and took the view to buy quality and learn by doing it slowly. That is just me - I find with quality "tools" and being careful and deliberate I develop my skill level quicker. That said my first strop was purchased from SRD - their Roo - and I love it.