Thread: Question about stropping

Hi Guys,

I have to thank Outback and BobH today.

My strop kept twisting and made it hard to use, Mike said to keep my elbow up. No more twisting! Thanks Mike.

BobH said to shave the strop with the spine. My stropping worked well this morning and my razor was nice and comfortable. Thanks Bob.

I usually do two passes, WTG and XTG although I did go ATG on my neck.

This morning I decided to just do 2 passes WTG as it was suggested that it might be more comfortable.

I usually have a pretty comfortable shave apart from the red cheeks and cheek bones.

Today my 2 passes WTG made my neck bleed a bit. Not cuts but more like shaved the skin off.

For me a second pass XTG and XTG on my neck is the most comfortable and stops me going over the same place too many times in the same direction.

Does anyone else find 2 WTG passes uncomfortable?

Steve

Multi directional passes are what I tend to do most. If you get weepers and irritation from WTG on your neck but a clean comfortable pass XTG, perhaps you should consider just the XTG pass on your neck. My goal has always been to figure out how to get the most comfortable, clean shave. Also as I lighten my grip on both the razor and the strop, my stropping gets lighter. That is just the grip on my strop not the tension. Also with a lighter grip on my razor, I can shave the lather with the lightest of touch.

Originally Posted by STF

BobH said to shave the strop with the spine. My stropping worked well this morning and my razor was nice and comfortable. Thanks Bob.

I usually have a pretty comfortable shave apart from the red cheeks and cheek bones.

Today my 2 passes WTG made my neck bleed a bit. Not cuts but more like shaved the skin off.

For me a second pass XTG and XTG on my neck is the most comfortable and stops me going over the same place too many times in the same direction.

Steve

You are welcome.

You really should not have red anything when shaving regardless of the number of passes you do. When you do 2 passes in the same direction or one pass one way and the other a different way you are still going over the same skin twice. I'd think you are using to much pressure and/or a wrong angle. To lighten up just think about wiping the lather away with the blade. Also If you are trying to take all the whiskers down in one pass you are likely using too much pressure.

Bob

Originally Posted by Euclid440

I will strop a freshly honed razor 100 laps on a progression of strops, but daily shavers get 10-15 on linen and 20-30 on leather prior to shaving.

Hi, My stropping has improved to the point where I can give a razor 30 on canvas and 60 on leather after a shave to clean and polish it then another 50 on canvas and 100 on leather before I shave with it again about 2 weeks later.

My edges are smooth keen and comfortable so I am confident I am doing it correctly but even if I am doing the wrong type & number of laps, my technique feels ok to me.

The reason I wanted to revisit this post is that you said that you use a progression of strops. I have been told that by another mentor too but it has also been suggested by others that the draw of a strop is a personal thing that makes no difference to the blade.

I am a bit confused and hope you might be able to clarify the whole draw thing for me.

Is it worth stropping on a progression of draws in the same way that one hones on a progression of stones?

Stropping is polishing.

A strop progression is that different strops can produce different finishes/polish.

You will only find out the amount of “polish” by experimenting with a variety of strops and shaving with them. All my leather strops, in use, about 20, are vintage except for a few I have made.

Vintage strops and how they are reconditioned, rehydrated and finished will make for different polish and draw. You can add oil, scrape or sand the face to give more draw and wax for less draw.

Draw and polish are not the same thing, just because a strop has more draw does not mean it will polish better. I have a new purchased Kayanama Cordovan and 2 vintage Kayanama reconditioned, all 3 provide different polish. I do like the suede finished Kayanama it has a nice feel and a medium draw, it also polishes nicely.

So, if a razor just feels a bit lacking but not enough to go to paste, I hit the suede Kayanama. Then Kanayama linen and finish on Cordovan. About 10 laps on each lightening up the pressure on each.

A lot also depends on the razor and steel. When stropping more pressure and polish is put on the edge. If you strop on a pasted strop you will see that the very edge polishes first, and really that is all you need. You shave with the edge, not the full bevel.

In addition to leather I have Firehose, Sail cloth, paper, vintage flax and nylon, and then there are pasted strops Chrome Ox, Ferrous Ox, Cerium CBN and Diamond from .50um to .10um. 2-3 laps on CBN or 200K diamonds can transform and edge.

For leather I like vintage and for flax linen strops.

Do you need a strop progression? It is just another rabbit hole, and vintage strops are not expensive if you shop around and are willing to recondition them. I often buy vintage strops for $2-10 at antique swap meets. Sometimes just for the hardware or the linen. Often the leather is trashed, but the linen will clean up pristine.

A progression isn't necessary, I used a smaller 1.5" x 20" plain leather strop for a few years.

If you don't feel like spending the money and you're happy with your edges, I wouldn't bother. I like to try everything under the sun, so I will buy more strops in the future. But for now, my kanayama is the only strop I need.

What Marty said.
I find myself finishing on a Roo strop, most of the time. Its becoming my favorite strop material, especially for smilers., as it molds itself to the shape of the blade, and eliminates the needed x pass for this type of blade

To the OP, what strop are you using and what are its dimensions? And how are you gripping the shank during stropping and the flip?

Originally Posted by STF

Hi Guy’s,

I have heard it said in some posts that "they” have stropped a razor 300 laps.

What would be the reason and benefit of doing that rather than 60?

My razor still shaves but not like it did compared to some of my others.

I don’t really want to send it for honing yet because I’ve only used it less than 20 times.

I’m a newbie and I’m not great with a strop yet but would really going at the strop for 300 or so laps help give me back my edge?

I suppose that if I don’t do anything good for my edge I could just send it off to be honed after all.

Steve

PS - I've just noticed that there is a thread about stropping that would have been more suitable for this post. My apologies but I don't know how I can move it.

Some guys just love to strop. Some guys use multiple strops. Multiple as in progression. I use EITHER my DIY buffalo or my DIY cowhide, 50 laps, no linen, pulled tight but not crazy tight, just enough razor pressure to keep good control and contact, flipping edge over spine, slight x movement. But that's me. There are an awful lot of ways to skin that cat. For a raw beginner, I suggest sticking with the group consensus and not experimenting too much. After you have a good handle on stropping, do it however works best for you. I have seen the videos of slack strop stropping, etc, and they horrify me, but for some, those who know how to optimize the method, apparently they work. This goes for big drawn out stropping progressions. It works, even works very well, for those who have mastered that method. Maybe better than the standard 40 to 60 laps on one strop, or whatever. Maybe not. But there can be no doubt that it does work.

Now you have been stropping with 60 on leather for 20 shaves and the edge is a bit off, and you want to know if a stropping marathon will bring it back? I doubt it, but if your stropping is good, with rock solid consistency, it won't hurt anything. It is certainly not unusual to notice some loss of sharpness after 20 shaves, especially if the edge started out very, very sharp.

The good news is a finisher alone would probably be enough to bring your edge back up. Why not give it a go yourself? A Naniwa 12k is good for that. Some 1 micron lapping film. A nice big translucent or black Arkansas, maybe. A Shapton. Just hone with very light pressure until you feel stiction, strop good, and shave. For just refreshing your edge, no big kit of rocks is needed, generally. Me, I like pasted balsa for a little extra edge polish, and if you use a very fine abrasive, like .1 micron (not ONE micron, POINT one micron) for a post finish finish, you can also use it regularly for keeping your razor quite sharp indeed, for a very very long time. Basically, until you get bored and just want to play with your rocks. Oh, and normally a razor on balsa is always stroked with the spine leading, for obvious reasons. Almost always.

If you are not ready to jump in with both feet, by all means, send it out for honing. Meanwhile keep trying to optimize your stropping and shaving. A very high shave angle is almost as hard on the razor as it is on your face. Multiple passes of course wear an edge quicker than single pass shaves with the occasional double pass. 20 shaves per honing isn't so bad but I am sure you can improve on that, with practice and thinkfulness.

"Some guys just love to strop. Some guys use multiple strops. Multiple as in progression."This all day long. I honestly don't know that a stropping progression does all that much to refine an edge over just linen and 1 good leather strop. But yeah, I just like to strop-in fact, I often do it while watching tv, though it can be a very zen thing if you actually focus in on it. And as long as I've got 'em, just working my way across my rack with 6 or 7 strops from linen to my finest Japanese shell just feels right, and my edges seem to agree. Plus it helps me justify my owning them!