When can I strop - Newb question

I have several razors, and I am on the hunt for a sharp one - like everyone else. I need to get them honed, and will send them to Mr. Abrams one of these days - my problem is that I have one of Tony's 4 sided paddles - 3 pasted one unpasted.

I shaved this morning with a Dovo that just doesn't seem up to snuff for me - it cuts but not terribly well - I want to take razor to my strop immediately, but my reading has indicated that I need to let the razor "rest" after a shave - so is it not a good idea to take the razor directly to the pasted razor.

Also, while I have your attention - a question that was asked, and wasn't really answered- I have developed a little black metal residue on my 1 micron strop, how can I clean this off, or do I need to bother? Further, what does the micron size correlate to? a Norton is 4000/8000 - what is that in microns, and vice versa?

Thanks alot guys, love the forum!

K

Dude, thats a lot of questions. :)

You can strop immediately after a shave with a pasted strop.

You can leave the black residue for a while, when it gets really bad buy some new paste and reapply.

Its about 3 microns and 1 micron for the 4K and 8K respectively, thats a rough estimate.

Whether or not the razor must rest before stropping is disputed, but in either case, using the pasted strop is sharpening, not stropping, so the question is moot. Sharpen away.

Actually 8000 us about 2 microns according to Shapton people, therefore 4000 would be 4 microns.

Thanx Ilija :)

I probably didn't contribute too much to the debate because:
1) Grit is based on average particle size, while talking about microns means that the smallest particle is that size.
2) In any case they can't come to a uniform grit rating.
3) We're using Nortons and not Shaptons. AFIK Nortons are a bit rougher so N8k may have an average particle size of 3 microns for all we know.

Do you not strop after the shave on the linen and leather sides?

Guess I really do need to buy the DVD and learn.

The reason why I asked this question is the whole "blade rest" suggestion, that the blade after a shave warps (for lack of a better term) and requires "rest" of 24-48 hours before reuse ( this is espused by Dovo I believe)...WHen I feel a razor that pulls, I want to immediately hone or strop it - and I was curious fi that was the best thing to do if the blade needs to "rest" first - honing a warped, however minutely so, straight could not be a good thing, now could it?

Thanks for the replies and sorry for so many questions - is this cvered on the DVD?

K

I have used the same razor for many days in a row and never had any problems. The debate continues. If your razor has recently been honed, it really should not need any pasting for a while. Like a month or two unless you are dulling it with your stropping technique. Another pain when shaving occurs when you have the blade at too steep an angle. Normally touch up with .5 micron paste should be fine if a razor is just starting to pull a little.

Have fun.

Lynn

I strop before shaving.

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