Thread: Second stropping? Help!

I have a vintage razor from my grandfather. When I shave I strop with a leather strop trying to keep the fundamentals in mind. Little or no pressure, blade stays flat with the edge and spine touching the leather and staying slow to work into these habits. I'll give the blade a quick pluck or two and feel the blade grab my thumb. Then when I shave I feel like my blade is dulling very quickly. I try to keep shaving fundamentals in mind. 30 degree angle little to no pressure etc. But quickly I find myself using more and more pressure and strokes because my blade feels dull, especially by my second pass. Should I do a second stropping before my second pass? I don't particularly feel comfortable sending it to a professional to hone as it's an heirloom and I don't trust the mail carriers not to damage the scales or anything. I have a stone and have researched honing and my blade seems extremely sharp afterwords. Is this a stropping problem? Suggestions? Help me please!

Thanks!
Bthr22

There is a member's map here. There may be a member skilled in honing and stopping within driving distance who can give you some lessons while getting your heirloom up to speed. I was fortunate enough to have that opportunity and it made a world of difference in shortening my learning curve.

You can strop between passes but if the razor isn't truly shave ready you won't get the shave you will if it is. If you cannot find a member near you sending it out or buying a shave ready blade may be your best bet.

Assuming you're second pass is ATG, you will feel more pulling if the blade isn't sharp enough to begin with. You may not notice it on the first pass, as there's very little resistance when shaving WTH. Maybe you can find a honemeister near you so you don't have to send it out (your barber, maybe?) If not, try some CroOx on a balsa strop. If all else fails, you may need to bite the bullet and wrap the hell out if it in bubble wrap and ship it out. Good luck.

No matter how great your technique it won't help much if the blade isn't properly sharp and pressing harder or using a steeper angle isn't the answer. If you can't get it honed up yourself you should plan on sending it out.

Hello, Bthr22:

I agree with my colleagues here: that if the razors needs to be honed, stropping between passes will not be of much help.

I suggest sending it out to a professional for a good honing. That way, you will only have to strop the razor before the shave rather than before each pass.

Regards,
Obie

I pretty much figured getting it professionally honed was all I could really do. Thought maybe I wasn't thinking of something. Well I'm planning on getting another razor from the classifieds. I'll make sure that is shave ready