Stropping Professionally Honed Razors

Gentlemen,

Should the straight razor be stropped for the first shave after it has been professionally honed?

To reiterate my focus, I do not refer to a razor that is honed by the shaver himself; rather, one that is received in the mail after being professionally honed.

Since I prefer to leave the honing to the pros, I send all of my razors to Lynn for honing. I failed to ask him for his thoughts on the subject. Perhaps he, along with the other experts on this learned forum, can answer my question.

As a rule, even though such a razor may already have been stropped at the shop, I myself prefer to strop it — 25 on canvas, 30 on leather — mostly because of my concern for the many tumbles the package containing the razor might have received while in transport.

I have heard two schools of thought on this: that, yes, it should stropped before that first shave after professional honing, and, no, it should not.

What are your thoughts, gentlemen? If a thread on the subject exists somewhere, my apologies.

Regards,

Obie

Well, I hone all my razors by myself, so I do not have this problem, but in the German forum, many people recommend to not strop a professionally honed razor. They say, you should take the sharpness out of the box as some kind of benchmark, which you should refer to.

My opinion is, that a little stropping, say 5-10 strokes on leather should do no harm to the blade. An alternative would be, to strop the razor slightly on the palm of your hand before using it.

I would feel sort of uncomfortable using a razor just right out of the box and strop it just a little bit. 25 on canvas and 30 on leather, like you mentioned before, would surely be more than necessary.

The normal advice is not to. Personally, I think this more applies to new users who may mis-strop and thereby damage the edge. Stand to be corrected though. Probably not necessary all the same, considering the razors come oiled and shouldn't have any of the micro rust that (I understand) stropping removes. I just don't feel right if I don't strop the blade before the shave.

+1 to what AlanII said.

If you know how to strop correctly a little stropping would be ok, but it does not need to be done, because it is oiled.

@ALanII

You are completely right: Stropping does not only re-align the edge, it removes microscopic small amounts of rust/oxidation from the very edge of the blade. I have noticed by comparing the look of an edge under magnification before and after stropping. I think, this is the reason, why leather and linen turn slightly black after years of consistent use.

As AlanII pointed out for new users it is taking a chance on rounding the edge. If you feel confident in your stropping ability that is another story. Below is a photo of one I got from Vintage Blades and the label that was on it a year or more ago.

I don't know what the policy is now. I don't strop a razor from a honemiester until after i shave with it. I figure they will do it and I want to try it just as I received it from them.

All honemeisters I know of strop the razor before sending it out. They will normally include a note that states to use it as is, in order to prevent an unexperienced shaver from dulling the edge by a stropping mishap before the very first use.

When I send a razor to someone experienced, I never bother with such a notice, but I still strop it before sending it out.

Bart.

Here is a copy of the letter that goes out with the razors I work on....



How Your Razor was Honed


I have started to include this note with all my razors….
Unless otherwise requested all razors are taped with one layer of 3M electrical tape while on the stones…. Yes I know there are 2 opposite camps on this, but they are not my razors, and I am not going to scratch them up…. I also totally believe now, after many tests, that the edge lasts longer this way, and it produces a more comfortable shave….

They do not need to be taped on any kind of strop, only if you go back to a hone….

Keep in mind that even then, by the time you are ready to re-touch the edge, if you don’t want to use the tape, just about 20 laps on a 4k stone will get rid of the taped angle and set it back to just a bare spine….

The razors are honed on several different systems depending on the razor itself…. I use Shapton GS stones, Naniwa Super Stones, Norton Stones, and even Coticules and Arkansas stones on occasion…. After the stones, they are run through a progression of pasted strops, depending on the brand, and steel of the razor…. They are then stropped to full shave ready with 50 laps on linen and 100 laps on leather on an Illinois #827 strop….

After the strops, and a test shave, they are re-stropped using the SRD Premium #1 strop, then dipped in a germicide left to air dry as per the instructions…. I wipe on a very thin coat of WD-40 oil, then package the razor, and send them back to you…

I do this the same way every time, to make sure that the sharpness of the edge is on me, not on your ability, or lack there of to strop the razor…
Please for yer first shave, just rinse off the oil, and shave …

I am now recommending, to keep the edge at the keenest level possible, that you strop 25 laps on a linen strop, then 50 laps on leather before each subsequent shave ….
Also if your razor was restored, you need to keep it oiled for at least 1 month, as the newly cleaned steel is much more susceptible to oxidation…


Thank you for “Trusting” me with yer face ……
Glen / gssixgun
www.gemstarcustoms.com

Wonderful insight Glen! I can hone my stuff pretty well, but now I'm wondering if I should send one of my W&Bs to you in order to get a good calibration for my others.

You make about twice as many passes on the leather versus the linen. I'd done the reverse, about twice as many passes on the felt versus the leather. I'll have to give your approach a shot. Have you found felt to be much different from linen?

Gentlemen,

Thank you for your advice on stropping or not stropping the professionally-honed razor for the first shave.

The consensus seems to be not to strop, since the razor is already stropped after honing. This makes sense. I think I will adopt that method.

Also, I like Glen's idea of stropping razors in general — excluding honed razors for the first shave — 25 passes on the linen and 50 on the leather. I usually do 25 on linen and 30 on leather. I have heard many variations of this number, but I still like Glen's numbers.

I knew I could count on you learned gentlemen for sound advice.

Regards,

Obie

Here is a little long lost tidbit information passed on to my father from his father - but only for those of you who know your stropping ability is very good. After you receive your newly honed razor skip both the linen and the leather and strop the razor on news print. Take a few layers of newspaper and lay them on the edge of a table. Crease the newspaper so you know exactly where the edge of the table is. Then strop the razor about a dozen times each direction - then shave. You will be surprised what the newspaper does.

I can certainley vouch for Glen's honed razors being ready to shave out of the box.
Just as he says, wipe the oil off and enjoy a truly sharp edge.

After shaving, I always do just a few laps to make sure working end of blade is dry. Then apply oil.
M