A paddle strop and a 12000 grit finishing stone

I have been only straight razor shaving now for 2 weeks. I have already acquired 4 razors. One a member from this site sent me for free. What a great community we are. The other 3 I from the classifieds on this site. They are shave ready the seller has assured me. He does honing services for hire. The other I have sent to Lyn Anderson for honing. When I get all the razors back I will have 4 razors all ready for full use.

Now comes to my real questions. I am all about being self sufficient and all but I believe you need to walk before you run. A little but often is my favorite phrase. I have been practicing on a old paddle strop I have at home with a butter knife to learn the proper technique so when I get my razors I will be ready. The strop I have at home wont be use for the razors though. Its made for wood working chisles.

Any how I am going to be ordering a paddle strop from SRD. I am ordering the one with a plan side and a rough side. I am also thinking of ordering a 12ooo grit stone as well. Is this a good way to go I guess is my question. I thought I would shave with a razor and strop it before each use. When stroping alone does not work I would hone it on the stone for 5-10 strokes and strop it after that and see how it works. I figured if it worked I could go to a courser stone down the road until I reach a point where it needs to be re beveled. Then send it out for honing service.

Would this be a good way to go or just stick to using the strop and let the pros doing any honing that need to be done for now.

I'd order the Modular Paddle strop so that you have the option, in the future, of trying different surfaces on it. For the few more $$, you'll get more versatile use out of it. And yes, the Naniwa 12k is the way many refresh, and is always useful as a finishing stone when you decide you want to hone from scratch

Slow down a bit. Start with making sure your stropping is done with a light pressure and not at a fast pace. 15 to 30 laps on the linen, or similar side and 30 to 100 on the smooth leather side should keep your edge in shave ready condition. Using a 12k stone should be reserved for a later date. Properly stropped razors can go months or more before a touch up is needed. If you have never honed anything you most likely will ruin the edge rather than help it. For that you should find a member near you that would be willing to sit down with you and show you the proper technique for re-freshening your edge on a 12k. Shave ready and learning to read your face ans get damn fine shaves should be your first priority. All the rest comes down the line as you conquer each phase.

First, start off with a good razor that has the bevel set and is honed. I use the SRD modular strop and it offers a lot of options that should keep your razor in good shaving condition. I have tried a number of different 12k stones and settled on the Shapton. Easy to maintain and gives a very good edge. You shouldn't need the 12k if you get a razor shave ready. Before you go operating on you new razor, I suggest you pick up inexpensive Genco's, Geneva or Ontario razors on ebay to practice on. They take a really good edge and will give you immediate feedback on whether you are doing it right or not. That is what I did. I really screwed up a Geneva the first time I used a progression of Norton stones. Light pressure. Watch Lynn's videos at SRD and you will learn the right way from a master.