Thread: Strop with tape?

I have a witness Taylor, I have had to take out a small frown, I found that since the spine has quite a bit of wear I put 2 pieces of tape on it to hone it, do I leave the tape on when I go to the linen and leather or will it matter? I would appreciate any helpful knowledge on this matter, thanks

The linen and leather strop surfaces have a little "give" so even without tape you'll get good contact with the edge.

Okay thanks

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Thanks guys.....think I'm on the right track.....a little info goes a long way.....got to get a decent razor,...getting decent shaves but I think they could probably be better.....I've got a Bismark on the way that is supposed to be shave ready.....just started sr shaving a month ago, but been honing blades of some kind since I was 7, have been shaving body parts to check sharpness all my life

So, are you talking about stropping between stones, or are you talking about stropping after honing for maintenance?

If you are stropping between stones just to polish the edge, yes it is ok to strop with tape, but if you are stropping after honing you do not need tape.

There is more than enough flex in a strop to convex a bevel and strop all the way to the edge. As an example, a single sheet of copy paper, when used between a piece of glass and lapping film will flex enough to polish only a third to half a bevel, from the edge back, so a strop will flex much more.

I would never strop with tape, not that doing so is necessarily wrong, but I try very hard to keep my leather surfaces uncontaminated by anything. Tape that is on a roll carries traces of the adhesive even on the side of the tape that is not sticky.

I like my draw the way I like it, and I don't want anything interfering with that relationship!

I guess if, you only have one strop and do not clean it often, perhaps it could be an issue. I have several strops in the shop, one pasted, sailcloth used just for stropping between stones when honing and several of various leathers and finishes.

Most folks don’t ever clean their leather strops, which is why we see deep random stria on bevels post stropping. A lot of dust is always in the air and most strops are coated with fine dust. Wiping with the hand once or twice, will not clean it and may just imbed it.

Just for grins, wipe your leather strop with a clean, damp paper towel and look at what comes off…

I too would think that stropping with tape would invite contamination of the strop.
I find that no matter how fussy I am about keeping my leather strop clean that I find its draw changes after a week or so without cleaning.
I firmly wipe it with a clean dry piece of toilet tissue and all is good again.
After using Cr Ox I wipe the razor several times before I am satisfied that it is clean enough to go to the linen and then from the linen to the leather without additional cleaning.