Thread: I have no experience with straight razors. Need help.

You need scales on that razor. We strop before and after a shave, I personally strop 40x after a shave and 60+ before a shave. I guess it's too late to mention the addictive nature of this sport

He's way past being hooked. He's landed and soup already

I believe shooter and eddy have got me pegged. I feel like a normal person on the fence about to become a drug addict. That's ok, I know I can quit any time I want to. I've already gone through this with pocket knives and tools to sharpen them. I've bought, sold, traded knives and stones trying different types until I have what I need in that world. Now it's scraping my face with razor sharp (truely razor sharp) pieces of steel just hoping I don't cut my face off. I came up with this idea about a week-10 days ago and just told wife about it last night. I showed here the razor that was given to me and explained I was going to make a handle for it and I had soap on the way and I needed to go to Wal Mart to get a brush. This was after I had shaved my cheeks so she could see my intentions were real. Over the past few years she has seen me nick my fingers while sharpening or playing with my knives enough to know I'm not the most careful guy in the world. She had just gotten a drink and was on her way to sit at the PC. She looked at me and said calmly, "You're gonna cut your face off." Then she went to the other room and sat at the pc.

Well, one nice thing about a sharp straight is the cut is so clean that it leaves almost no scar. Laid a finger open about an inch while honing a wedge if you wan to talk about clumsy. Took about half an hour of pressure to stop the bleeding but gave me time to wipe some blood spatters off the wall from when i flicked my hand in surprise at being cut. Healed real nice though.

Bob

Thanks Bob. These are the kind of stories I need to keep me motivated.


Ja

Originally Posted by jackknifeh

Thanks Bob. These are the kind of stories I need to keep me motivated.


Ja

Just falls under the heading of not losing respect for what a blade can do but does not mean to be fearful of them. Notice to it was a digit and not the face thank heaven. Slow and easy does it, never be in a hurry.

Bob

I know me so I might as well bring it up now. I don't have a "belt strop". All of mine are mounted on wood or something hard. So if (when ) I get one should it be bare leather or have high grit compound on it? I've bought leather and made my own strops with cow hide and horse hide. Horse is much harder than cow. Recommendations?

Here are my thoughts on a strop. Maybe two? I can buy a piece of horse hide 4" wide and 36" long. I'm thinking horse instead of cow because it is harder and will have less tendency to "wrap" around the edge. I know this isn't an issue if the technique is good but still I'd prefer the better choice. So I'm asking if the harder horse hide is a better choice than cow which is a softer leather? I would LOVE to get a piece of kangaroo this big but I don't even want to think about how much that might be. Those kangaroo's can be pretty greedy when comes to their skin. I'm thinking two strops because if the flexible ones are a better choice for straight razors I may want one bare and one with a .5 or .25 micron diamond spray or something on it.

I looked on the classifieds here and didn't see any strops. I'll keep looking else where. I've seen tons of them on knife web sites but I don't like them for knives. But for straight razors if I get one I want it to be a good choice for razors. Any suggestion is appreciated.

Jack

I looked on whipped dog and think I'll get the poor man's strop kit. Looks perfect for me. If there is a reason to choose something else let me know please.

Jack

Your bench strops will be fine for touch ups. Mine are all pasted/sprayed paddles. I like the idea of a hard surface as more like a hone and less chance of edge damage. Good idea for a cheap hanging strop to begin with as you'll nick it so whipped dog perfectly acceptable.