Thread: Just starting

Originally Posted by Fiveostang

Thanks for the advice. The only reason I was checking amazon is because I have $50 gift card to blow on amazon and wanted to put it to good use. I think I will try the newspaper method for a little bit to get used to it. This by far the most easy going forum for newbies I've ever belonged to. Thanks again for all the help and support.

I'm just enough of a geezer that this is the only forum I've ever belonged to. Glad to hear we stack up well.

Post the strops you're looking at on Amazon, and we can tell you if they're good or not.

If you're shopping on Amazon, check out the Illinios 827 strop. I may come up as a Fromm strop. Anyhow, it's an excellent strop. It was my first, and I still use it often as it gives me excellent results. It's not too expensive, so if you happen to nick it, no big deal.

Here's a question on the strops that I'm still trying to figure out. Why do I need a linen strop? What's the actual purpose of it?

Theories abound, about how it heats up the blade before moving to leather, etc. etc., and most of them are hokum (in my humble opinion). The better agreed-upon answer is that they clean honing grit and/or oxidation from the edge before you take it to the leather. Linen is slightly more abrasive than the leather. True linen (as opposed to linen-finish cotton or canvas) is a little more abrasive than the linen-finish substitutes, but that's not a critical detail.

Many people treat their linen with a little bit of abrasive, such as CrOx (Chromium Oxide) for occasional touch-ups between honings. I like to keep at least one clean linen around, though, for its cleaning function.

The last thing you do before putting a razor away is strop it, 10 or 20 times, Even after rinsing and wiping dry, there might be microscopic bits of soap, moisture, skin, whatever on the blade, and this stropping is a good way to remove it without risking the blade or your fingers to more aggressive wiping. Again, I like to do that on linen.

When you take the blade back out for its next use, strop it first on the linen (I do 20 passes) then on leather (60 passes). Again, the linen's main function here (at least in my mind) is to clean off any oxidation that might have built up since the last use.

We talk, and truly care, about microscopic bits of debris on the blade. It really matters, because the edge itself is a microscopic thing. Oxidation is a chemical reaction that occurs on surfaces, and when you get down to a razor's edge, the ratio of surface exposed to total volume is extremely high. Search the site for "Devil's Spit" or "Swiss Cheese" and you'll see the horror that keeps us stropping before we store our blades. The amount of rust that's just a small blemish on a car or even a pocketknife can be pretty destructive to a razor's edge.

Yea I've heard of devils spit that's the black rust that's almost impossible to get out right? So strop on linen to clean and leather to compress the blade am I understanding that correctly? None of this seems over complicated to me but then again that's coming from someone who's had a blade in hand once. I guess the gist of this is not to use the razor until I get a strop unless I use newspaper until the strop arrives and do a few dozen passes on the linen and over 50 on leather before each shave and do another couple dozen of each after each shave. Am I understanding that correctly?

You have the jist of it, Check out this thread http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...st-2012-a.html great info.

I also second the Illinois #827, great bang for the buck and my go to strop.

Originally Posted by IamSt8ght

If you're shopping on Amazon, check out the Illinios 827 strop.

Yep, you've got it.

Where devil's spit is most evil is along the edge. Don't let it happen to you.

Fill in your location --there may be an experienced shaver nearby who can help you get started--or perhaps an upcoming meetup.

Welcome to the forum! These guys are great and there's a wealth of knowledge here. Both of my first two razors were from Ebay and neither was actually shave ready. I bought one of Larry's sight unseen SR from whippeddog.com to see what "shave ready" really meant and used that as a goal when I honed and stropped for a little while.

I've only been SR shaving for about 6 months and love it. Take your time, focus on technique vs speed with stropping/shaving, and enjoy.

Some members say 3 inch strops aren't good for newbies. I bought a 2.5 inch so I could learn the X pattern and proper technique.

Ask plenty of questions. These guys are really helpful. Welcome to the addiction.

The only Fromm strop I can find on amazon is a 2.5" I did find this its advertised as a leather/canvas so I think it's got double sided what do you guys think?http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/ol/B009E...7969232&sr=8-4

So I seem to be getting adverse opinions on the strop situation. I think I'm going to use the search bar a little more and see how I make out lol. I spoke to the seller on eBay who sold me the razor he seems like a nice guy and has %100 feedback and a lot of SR's he said he honed and stropped the razor before shipping he's also pretty local to me. He does restos and custom builds as well and I really got a good vibe but well see by Friday. I live in cape cod MA btw.