Thread: Under Stropping

Originally Posted by Jimbo

It's funny you mentioned this. This morning I went down to shave (and just as an aside, in relation to another thread, I completely shaved off all my facial hair) and was halfway through the first stroke on my cheek when I realised the razor was not shaving very well. Then I realised I had forgotten to strop!

After a quick strop all was well again. Stropping is way important!!

James.

James, ME TOO!!!

Yup this was THE learning curve for me. I came into straight shaving completely confident in my honing ability and sure enough that did not let me down. But it was the stropping that refines the edge that eluded me a bit. Looking at it under a magnifying lense made for high end optical system (I've no clue what but its great) I noticed as the 12k striations vanished the shave produced progressively less razor burn. Once they were no longer visible I got no more razor burn. Then came the leather,I can't see anything that small even under the glass but what I know is my razors go from a bit of tug to really fine stubble squeegee still with no razor burn. So the 50 pass minimum is warranted.

Yes I'm now one of the Seekers of the Perfect Edge cult.

Originally Posted by Dragonfire

Yup this was THE learning curve for me. I came into straight shaving completely confident in my honing ability and sure enough that did not let me down. But it was the stropping that refines the edge that eluded me a bit. Looking at it under a magnifying lense made for high end optical system (I've no clue what but its great) I noticed as the 12k striations vanished the shave produced progressively less razor burn. Once they were no longer visible I got no more razor burn. Then came the leather,I can't see anything that small even under the glass but what I know is my razors go from a bit of tug to really fine stubble squeegee still with no razor burn. So the 50 pass minimum is warranted.

Yes I'm now one of the Seekers of the Perfect Edge cult.

Agreed.

If anything in my short experience I would share would be that the fundamentals are the most important. Stropping, proper care of the blade, brush, and proper technique in shaving and stropping. In my opinion, this should be the only thing a beginner should focus on for at least 3 months...in regards to stropping, I had to learn the hard way, and go back to basics in stropping after I was told I rolled the edges on several of my blades, and once that happens, your shaves will only be frustrating, and you'll keep going back to wondering why it shaves great for a shave or two when you get it back from being honed, and then it bites the dust again.

Also, investing in a loupe is a good thing to inspect your edges, seeing the actual edge can reveal much.

The loupe is on my list. RAD > other items. I've ruined a few good honed edges while learning along with a nice strip of leather. It was totally fish scaled,good advice for the upstart would be buying a spare strop.

I only shave 2-3 times a week, but I'm constantly stropping my blade whenever the notion takes me. So by the time I decide to shave, it has a few hundred strokes on the strop. It may be overkill, but the shaves are great.

Originally Posted by Wayne1963

I only shave 2-3 times a week, but I'm constantly stropping my blade whenever the notion takes me. So by the time I decide to shave, it has a few hundred strokes on the strop. It may be overkill, but the shaves are great.

Yes, I do the same, if I'm heading to my bathroom, quite frequently I'll grab a blade I think I may use for the next shave and give it a stropping. By the time I go down to actually shave, I've got two or three already to go. Of course, then I may decide to use a completely different blade and then strop that one up to. But as they say, you can't over strop a blade.

Cheers!

I don't shave but 3 times a week. I strop after a shave and before. Some days, I run through 3 or 4 upcoming ones as well.
I can actually grab one at any time and shave, if in a hurry, doing this. If I have the time, though, I strop before shaving anyway!
"strop long and prosper'!

Hi. Kyguns good to see another Kentucky fellow joining in. I don't know much but willing to help if I can. Hi.

Originally Posted by Dragonfire

Yup this was THE learning curve for me. I came into straight shaving completely confident in my honing ability and sure enough that did not let me down. But it was the stropping that refines the edge that eluded me a bit. Looking at it under a magnifying lense made for high end optical system (I've no clue what but its great) I noticed as the 12k striations vanished the shave produced progressively less razor burn. Once they were no longer visible I got no more razor burn. Then came the leather,I can't see anything that small even under the glass but what I know is my razors go from a bit of tug to really fine stubble squeegee still with no razor burn. So the 50 pass minimum is warranted.

Yes I'm now one of the Seekers of the Perfect Edge cult.

These two pictures may be the most dramatic and useful for me and hopefully for the novice straight razor user. These photos are after stropping on clean leather right off the JNAT. Normally, I would go to the .5 micron diamond treated wool linen and then follow with leather.

I wanted to leave the JNAT edge alone and go right to leather for this session to see the difference between a JNAT and a Naniwa 12K finish.

Picture one is after 50 passes on clean black Latigo leather:



And now for me, the most dramatic change of the evening is the very last picture. This is after an additional 50 passes on clean black Latigo leather for a total of 100 passes:



I believe that these last two photos prove what many here already know. Stropping is extremely important to the edge and should never be neglected, rushed or otherwise conducted haphazardly. That last photo gives me a very good feeling of where I have this edge now tonight. If this razor isn't shaving better tomorrow night, I really won't know what to say.

Frank

Gentlemen,

My routine comprises of 50 strokes on linen/canvas/felt and 150 on leather. On the Kanayama/Kanoyama strops, I do 25 strokes on linen, 25 on felt and 150 on the smooth leather.

One reason for the relatively big numbers is limiting my strokes to only about 7 inches on the strop rather than most of the length — one reason I dislike long strops. This also helps smoother manipulation of the thumb and index finger while the wrist remains almost immobile.

So that the almost entire length of the strop is used — I don't want to wear out just one part of it — in the course of the week, I strop in different parts of the strop.

To compensate for the short stropping length, I add more strokes to my routine, as I noted. Which is an excuse, really, to do more strokes, because I love stropping — it puts me in a sweet state of zen. If I had the time, I would probably strop an hour before shaving. I figure, as long as I strop correctly, I'm okay. Also, proper stropping reduces the frequency of honing.