First time stropping report
So, I got into SR a few weeks ago as most of you know.
The first shave was perfect as the blade came stropped as well as honed due to a friend here on SRP, Thank you again :)
The second wasnt bad, but the edge was more dull and didnt get the baby butt smooth feel.
So, yesterday i went to my friends house and used his family's old strops to get my razor back up to par.
All in all i think it went very well, they had 3 or 4, i chose the best 2. One was leather only and had some sort of red paste, which i figured for iron oxide honing paste, so i started with 10-20 passes on that. Next i went to an old 2 sided strop, canvas and leather. The canvas was in great condition, but the leather was a bit warped in places from age. No serious cuts or nicks however.
So id strop for 20 or so passes, and give it a test on my left arm right up from the wrist. The first time there was considerable tugging, 20-30 more passes and there was minor tugging. But 30 more passes and it was smooth as butter, now i have a 6"x2" bare spot on my forearm.. highly visible, sure didnt think that one through..
I avoided the wavy area after i tried 10 or so passes, didnt like the feel. So, i guess my question to you all is, Does a strop being wavy hurt the blade at all? I notice the edge of a razor comes to paper thin for a good length, so im very very careful not to put any pressure on. no mater what im doing, shaving or stropping.
(I laid the strop down on the edge of a table, so it was as flat as possible)
For the angle, i laid the blade down completely with the spine touching the strop as well. it seemed to work perfectly, i figured if thats how its honed, it must be how its stropped.
