Thread: custom razor and loom strop

Okay here is my dilemma, I recently sold all of my straight gear as you may know, and have been DE shaving now for the past few months. Things are going pretty well, but I have noticed the comfort level of a straight razor being superior to a DE but only when sharp. I had a hard time keeping the razor sharp. I needed to hit the paste every 8 shaves or so to keep the blade going.

Anyways I saw this maestro livi loom strop for sale with a linen back pasted with chromium and I just thought I should have that. Is there any benefit to using a loom strop and is there any reason not to? The strop is being sold for 130 dollars slightly used. I have no straight razor anymore and have never ownded a new razor. I want to try a custom, maybe a joe chandler straight and I want that to be my one razor, well at least for now. I really like the one on the straightrazordesign website but it is pretty spendy at 375.

Any suggestions for a custom razor would be apperciated. I have tried several wade and butchers, heljestrand, Dovo, wapi, Henckels, and others that I can't name. But I have always wanted a razor to call my own, and one that would shave at par with the best of them. Do you think my idea of a loom strop and custom razor is a good one? I was dissapointed in straight shaving for awhile because I had a few hones and I could never get the razor sharp. So I am thinking have it honed, keep it sharp on paste as long as possible and then send it out when it needs it again. I don't really have the money for all of these extravagent shaving items but thats what credit cards are for.

I have no doubt that a Joe Chandler would be an excellent buy and a razor that you would cherish for a lifetime. They are beautiful works of art.
Here is another consideration. Traveler has some great reconditioned vintage razors. When I say reconditioned, I really mean that they look better than new. In addition, he has a policy that if you do not like the razor for any reason, you can return it for a refund or for another razor (basicly a try while you buy policy). In addition, his price includes free lifetime honing anytime you want. You may want to look into this as an option. I have two of his blades (6/8 J. Rodgers & Sons, 9/8 Greaves & Sons) and they are honed polished to perfection, honed to perfection, and the scales on them are awesome. I guess you can tell that I like them too...
So, for what it is worth, just another option.

Matt, I am a recent convert to straights. There were 2 reason for me going to a straight. First, no matter how much contorting I did to my face there were still a few areas the twin safety did not reach. And, second (and an item you mentioned in your post), was that the sharpness of a new blade was inconsistent at best. Some of them gave a wonderfully smooth, close shave. Others were very bad.

Well I pulled the trigger over at straight razor designs today. I did not get the chandler I really wanted I just could not afford it. I did get a 8/8ths half or quarter hollow, not sure fridour. I also got the loom strop I wanted.

At any rate I think I did very well to get back into straight razors, that loom strop is pasted so I don't need to worry about a hone. When It does need a hone in 2-3 months I will just send it out to one of the members here for a honing. I think someone does it for like 12 bucks.

All I need to know now is how and when to adjust the loom on the loom strop.

II am not an expert, but I can tell you my experiences.

I hate loom strops. Probably because noone told me how to use it when I was a newbie.
You don't store the loom strop under tension. Instead, you only streach it when you use it, and afterwards you relax the leather again. If you don't do this, then the leather my curl inwards and you'll ruin every edge.

Again, this is just my experience with a dovo loom strop, but I just thought I'd mention it.
And don't worry about the razor. Even if you don't like it, the resale value wil be decent.
And yes, the reason I still use a straigh is that any other blade irritates the hell out of my skin.
Even the feather blades do, but I put up with that because of the ease for traveling.

Thanks for the info on lossening your loom strop. I have one and did not know that either.

I have one of the Mastro's loom strops and I like it. I have only used the Crom-Ox side as I have a hanging strop. I do keep it loosened when not in use and so far no problems. I just turn the handle and snug it up until taut. Good idea to send the razor out for honing when the time comes if you don't want to get into that yourself. OTOH, honing is very rewarding for me and I enjoy it almost as much as shaving. YMMV.

Those new Chandlers over at SRD are superb. I ordered the one with purple heart scales. It has become my new favorite overall. I love it. It was well worth the money any day.

I have a small loom strop which I use for traveling and I love it. Bruno is 100% correct -- it needs to be left slack when not being used.

The only other experience I've had is with Mastro Livi's giant loom strop. He showed me how to use it pasted with chromium (slightly less taut than I had assumed) -- he really set to that strop with my custom straight. He gave it about 30 laps, each lap being about 2 metres round trip!

The result was my Livi Damascus blade being the sharpest I had ever encountered in a straight. Not only that, I was stunned to go about 60 shaves without even needing to touch it up!! My experience with pastes is that the edge becomes a little more delicate and requires re-honing more often as a result. Perhaps it was the stronger steel (ATS34), but it kept its wicked edge far longer than I thought possible.

If I had the spare cash, I'd buy one of his giant looms for sure!

Here's a photo of me watching Mastro Livi in his workshop putting my blade to his giant loom.