Thread: 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.