Thread: Pasted strop question

Hello there, have a question about a dovo best quality full hollow. Well it seems that the edge has lost its keenness, ATG passes are no longer smooth. So I got some crox spay and .25 diamond spray also. Applied both to a felt strop from srd. Did about 5 laps on the crox, 5 on the diamond then around 5 back on the crox. So just got done with the shave and it is still not possible to do ATG passes. Also did my normal stropping routine before the shave. I had shaved around 12 times total before doing this refresh.

Photos of strop may help. Mine is a 40 plus year old Hoffritz. The only paste I use is Theirs Issard from The Art of Shaving on the canvas.
It could be your strop or strop technique.

I have a couple of thoughts. If your edge is quite sad before you try to use the pasted strop you may not be able to easily bring it back. I think the people that have had very long living edges with pasted strop strop a little quite often. Also you are still fairly new here and I am going to guess straights as well. With that thought the possibility of you having rolled your edge exists and you may want to check it with a loupe or get together with an older member. You could also send it out for assessment and honing as a possible way to easily get to the bottom of what is wrong with your blade. I have two stropping compounds but only ever use one or the other. Going back and forth seems a little confusing. Stick with the CrOx until you get a grasp of it the increase your experience with other products. If you haven't a loupe or patience you could try more laps on the CrOx. It does have a possibility of fixing your problem with more. Do them laps and then try to shave with it again. If a no go repeat. I would think if you can't get it back in 30 passes or three attempts you should consider having it honed.

I purchased the separate rockwool strop from SRD. As well as the sprays from SRD. I also watched Lynn's video on refreshing and I used the same stropping technique as usual might have even used lighter pressure though.

Well, it depends on what happened to your edge and how badly it was damaged.

First, take a look at it with some magnification and see what the edge looks like.

Chances are, if you are new to shaving and straight razor maintenance, you may have damaged it by stropping. It is common and learning to strop can take a while, to get to the point where you are improving the edge consistently.

While a Diamond pasted strop can refresh an edge that has dulled a bit, it can also do more damage to an edge because it is an abrasive strop.

Typically, new stroppers lift the spine or use too much pressure, while stropping and causes the edge to roll. If the edge is rolled and too much pressure is used on the other side, the rolled edge can break off and is now chipped. The severity of the chip will dictate the repair, and often requires honing or at least a touch up on a high grit stone.

So, take a look at the edge, or better yet, find a local mentor that can give you some hands on pointers, on stropping and possible touch up your edge.

Thread moved to "Stropping" section.

So I believe I may have just jumped the gun a little with the strop and sprays. Still have a long way to go with just shaving to worrying about maintaining the edge also. Just an update I plan on trying one more time with the sprays to get that edge back to shaving comfortably again and if I fail I'm going to cash in my rehoning certificate and get it sharpened.

Not a terrible plan. Stropping is one of those things that sounds simple enough and looks simple enough but does take a few shots at it to really get it. It is those first few goes that can spoil an edge. It happens all the time to new shavers. You should put the next meet in your general area on your list of things to do. Learning with others is way easier than all by yourself. They are a lot of fun and learning at all levels.