Thread: Slippery Strop?

When I was first learning to strop, I put a few nicks in it. I fixed them up with a pumice stone and Dovo strop conditioner. I can't remember now whether this created more "draw" than before being pumiced, but I've used this strop up until a few days ago and all my razors have a fairly heavy draw on it. So I'm used to a lot of draw.

A few days ago I bought a new strop to use on a daily basis. It's by the same manufacturer as my first strop, just a bit longer and does not have any embossing.

This strop has no draw at all - I'd actually call it "slippery" as distinct from smooth (although it's smooth too). There does not seem to be any type of layer on the leather to cause this - just smooth leather. I've been rubbing my hand over it to help break it in, but that's it.

So, is it a problem that this strop feels slippery? I mean, the edge is being stropped - I can feel it when I shave. Is there a role for a slippery strop say after using a heavy drawing strop?

James.

I've several strops that range from slippery to substantial draw...can't say that I notice a difference in the resulting shave from one over another. I think the biggest issue is the amount of contact. A long flat strop will impart more contact than a shorter or cupped, twisted, or bumpy strop...given the same number of passes.

Just another data point,
Ed

The strop I got from Tony has great draw on it. Never felt slippery at all. I think as ForestryProf said, there is no difference in the result from them really.

Originally Posted by ForestryProf

I've several strops that range from slippery to substantial draw...can't say that I notice a difference in the resulting shave from one over another. I think the biggest issue is the amount of contact. A long flat strop will impart more contact than a shorter or cupped, twisted, or bumpy strop...given the same number of passes.

Just another data point,
Ed

Ed, Where were you when we were having the discussion on textured, pebble finished, diamond pattern, etc strops vs. smooth ones ?? I was trying find if the results were better, worse or the same. More texture meant more feeling of draw against the razor (which ought to be a good thing)......more texture also means less surface contact (which ought to be a bad thing).

Any thoughts?

To me at least, slippery or smoth the end result is what matters. I like less draw on light, delicate feeling razors and mre draw on heavy ones even if the resulting stropped sdge is the same on either strop.

Tony

I read in the Practice and Science of Standard Barbering
That medium grade horse hide has too fine a grain and is too smooth to impart the desired edge for barber's use but was suitable to private use.

I found that just a couple of passes with a smooth glass bottle on a quality Miller strop was enough to make it slick as a pig. I am not exactly thrilled as I enjoyed the draw and should probably have left well enough alone. It will be a few shaves before I can judge on the reaction of the blade to this effort but I personally do not like stropping with too smooth a strop.

Conversely I found an incredible improvement by applying soap and a smooth bottle treatment to the canvas side of the strop. The increased draw really improves control and I loved the overall results.

Creel,
If your's is a Latigo model it should regain a bit of draw from a week or two of use. Most are fairly stiff when new but the wear in fairly quickly. I've had a few guys fool with them, wish they had not, then let them wear in a little and were then thrilled.

I'm a fan of leaving them alone for at least a week or two first to judge the draw before doing anything.

Tony

Originally Posted by Tony Miller

Creel,
If your's is a Latigo model it should regain a bit of draw from a week or two of use. Most are fairly stiff when new but the wear in fairly quickly. I've had a few guys fool with them, wish they had not, then let them wear in a little and were then thrilled.

I'm a fan of leaving them alone for at least a week or two first to judge the draw before doing anything.

Tony

Tony,

Even though I don't have one of your strops, what you mention is kind of what I was thinking with this new strop. On my original strop I roughed it up with a pumice stone as a side effect of smoothing out some nicks, and I *think* that's how it became a heavy drawer. I don't want to mess with this new one if I don't have to and it seems at the moment that it's doing its job fine. I'm just used to more draw, and it somehow doesn't feel right to have the razor whizzing across a strop so easily. But it's only been a few days (although I've put about 20 razors over it so far ).

I'll live with it for a few weeks and see what develops. Anyone have any thoughts on a two-stage stropping regime? Eg strop on a heavy drawer, followed by the "slicker" or vice-versa? Or is this just overkill?

Thanks for the replies everyone.

James.

James,
I do the heavy draw, light draw stropping quite often. Latigo first, Horse or a smooth cowhide second. In the good old days many barbers strops were two leather components, not just leather and linen. Often one was marked "Sharpen" and may have been pasted, the other marked "Finish" and simply dressed with strop dressing. I done a few of these up too, double leathers a year or so ago and recently released them again. I'm going to try the Sharpen/Finish version for my own testing and see how that does.

Tony

Originally Posted by Tony Miller

Ed, Where were you when we were having the discussion on textured, pebble finished, diamond pattern, etc strops vs. smooth ones ?? I was trying find if the results were better, worse or the same. More texture meant more feeling of draw against the razor (which ought to be a good thing)......more texture also means less surface contact (which ought to be a bad thing).

Any thoughts?

To me at least, slippery or smoth the end result is what matters. I like less draw on light, delicate feeling razors and mre draw on heavy ones even if the resulting stropped sdge is the same on either strop.

Tony

Tony,
Sorry I missed that thread. I may be completely off base here, but I really don't think that 'draw' has any effect on the end result. Only total amount of contact. For those of you wishing for a really long discussion relating to total amount of contact, read 'The Grand Experiment', a thread from about a year ago I think.

Your comment on draw vs razor weight got me thinking...always dangerous. I too tend to grab my slick strop for lightweight razors and vise versa. I think it is a mass/momentum thing. With a lightweight razor all of the force needed to overcome the draw on the strop must be imparted from the arm...taken to the extreme, a really light and delicate razor could deflect when pulled along a strop with extraordinary draw. A big meat chopper would not...similar to the flex we sometimes discuss of light vs. heavy razors during shaving with heavy bearded gents typically preferring a more substantial blade. On the other end of the spectrum, if you are really swinging a big meat chopper across a slick strop, you have no draw (friction) to slow that razor at the end of the stroke. All of the momentum must be halted by the person doing the stropping. This I think would tend to confirm the statement from the barber's text about slick strops being inappropriate for barber's use but acceptable in the home. Barber's razors tended (read once upon a time) to be the large heavy meat chopper type of blade that would withstand years of regular use. Home based razors did not need to be as substantial as they were not subjected to as much use. Thus, high draw for large blades, light draw for light blades.

I hope some of this makes sense, if not please disregard as I'm not fully functional today (trying to get set for a week on the beach starting tomorrow).

Just another data point,
Ed

Well that makes some sense to me, but in my mind it begs the question: what exactly is, or causes, draw?

I know this has been discussed before, and I will go and do a thorough search on it. But, if it's merely a function of the strop and it's surface then a slippery versus heavy draw strop is just a matter of personal preference - they are both doing the same thing to the edge?

This makes some sense to me as it's what I've personally experienced on these two strops: On the new strop all of my razors have no draw (yet). On the old strop there's varying degrees of draw, depending on the razor used.

So...that would mean that in and of itself draw doesn't mean a lot. But, if you have a strop with a lot of draw, you can use that draw as an indicator that you are stropping correctly??

It's too early for thought - I'll go and run a few searches and stop babbling.

James.