Thread: Should I strop it?

So I recentely bought an NOS Heljestrand MK44 from a really cool seller online, beautiful razor (I'll post pics soon!). He said he'll have it honed and shave ready for me and told me not to strop it because I'd probably dull the edge. So the razor takes of arm hairs no problem, does not pass the HHT though. I shaved with it today and while there was no tugging or pulling, I definetely think it could have shaved better. Do you guy's think I should give it a good stropping? I'm only asking because he told me not to and said I would probably dull the blade, which puzzles me. My strop has a fabric side (with no paste) and a leather side.

Now that you've shaved with it, it's time to strop it.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...d-hht-3-a.html


It might be helpful for you to read this thread as well.

Most people who hone for others who say "don't strop it before use" usually mean "don't strop it before *first* use, if you are new and if your stropping is not quite up to par just yet".

The reason some do this is that because a new user, particularly if it is their first razor, can roll the edge and potentially ruin the honing job. However, stropping needs to occur before each shave you take, so at some point you will have to put razor to strop. Just go carefully, practice good stropping technique, and if you don't know or are unsure about something, just ask.

James.

Cool thanks guys. It's my first Swedish razor and he knew that, and from what I've gathered from being on here Swedish blades are different animals and it's stainless. I've been practicing my stropping on another razor and I'm really getting it down. I shall strop it next time I go to shave with it then.

I take a little different position on this these days. All the razors I hone are stropped and oiled before being sent out. With the oil application, there is little chance of a razor cutting any arm hairs or hanging hairs until stropped and for some reason, new guys feel compelled to try the HHT to determine if their razor is sharp. In most cases, when the razor will not pass a HHT or cut arm hair the person proclaims the razor not shave ready and the pre-determined conclusion is that the razor is not sharp regardless of the fact that most have never shaved with a straight razor before. As a result, I encourage people to rinse the oil off the razor and then strop it before shaving. I figure the worst that can happen is that they roll an edge and I can always re-hone it. I do try to explain proper stropping technique too, whenever I get the chance........

Have fun.

Lynn your honing and stropping videos spread out all over YouTube are the greatest, I can't thank you enough for those! Will definetely send you a razor one of these days (possibly soon haha).

Lynn is The Man! ALL HAIL LYNN! ALL HAIL LYNN!

How about a light finger rubbing before the first shave? I do this when getting rid of oil anyway. I put some lather on my index finger and thumb, and the rub the blade between my fingers from the spine to the edge, making sure to cover the whole blade. It seems to have a very light stropping effect, and it also works wonders on DE razor blades.

Originally Posted by Lynn

I take a little different position on this these days. All the razors I hone are stropped and oiled before being sent out. With the oil application, there is little chance of a razor cutting any arm hairs or hanging hairs until stropped and for some reason, new guys feel compelled to try the HHT to determine if their razor is sharp. In most cases, when the razor will not pass a HHT or cut arm hair the person proclaims the razor not shave ready and the pre-determined conclusion is that the razor is not sharp regardless of the fact that most have never shaved with a straight razor before. As a result, I encourage people to rinse the oil off the razor and then strop it before shaving. I figure the worst that can happen is that they roll an edge and I can always re-hone it. I do try to explain proper stropping technique too, whenever I get the chance........

Have fun.

In one of my post we had many discussion regards HHT: http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...rtant-not.html
What really matter to me now is:
1. Prep work-I have found out that lack of good prep work is just painful and give extremely poor shaving results.
2. Good quality blade-it is really important.
3. Good and slow stropping.
3. 60x magnification when honing blade as this one come optimal for me
4. Lot of hair on my forearm, they do not grow fast enough:-)
5. Relax…. Nothing in this world is perfect…