Thread: don't strop new razor?

I just got a brand new Thiers today and the directions that came with it said not to strop it until after several shaves. That sounds unusual to me. Any thoughts?

Sounds odd to me. But, why not give it a try? If the first couple of shaving strokes feel uncomfortable - strop away.


Scott

just don't sacrafice your fact to the razor gods...
remember that factory sharp razors are often not shave ready, and be prepared to hone it, if it pulls, or is painful stop and seek help from our good friend Mr. Norton...

...unless it was honed by a pro after purchase - who might have instructed not to strop to prevent the common newbie mistake of rolling the edge? Did you get a honing service when you bought the blade?

Jordan

I did not get the honing service, and it definitely does not feel sharp enough to me. The directions that came were from Thiers. I'm going to break out Norton and see what I can do to bring it up to speed.

Oh I would try stropping first...always go with the more conservative approach first (you know, check the gas tank before replacing the fuel pump. You might just be out of gas). Could save you some pain. If that doesn't work, you can always break out the hone.

Scott

Good idea - I always tend to step in over my head without reading the directions first!

Great! Looking forward to learning about your results.

BTW, I have owned only one TI razor and have found it to be a little finicky. They are great shavers though, once you master them.


Scott

I'll say that I just received a DOVO carbon straight I did not get any honing service, however I wanted to test the sharpness of the blade before I did any sort of maintenance on it. I tested it on the ball of my thumb and it seemed very sharp. I then tried the HHT and lo and behold it passed the HHT. I then decided to shave without any sort of stropping or honing. Best shave I've gotten to date.

I have about 10 TIs I bought new and I think 2 were in pretty good shape and very shaveable though they could still be improved upon. The rest were not shave ready and some were unusable period. My last TI was the Silverwing and the instructions that came with it were to shave without stropping, what a joke, I'm still laughing. Unless your razor was honed by a master certainly strop it and plan on honing it.