Thread: Stropping after Honing

Originally Posted by MichaelS

I use the complete Kanayama tri-strop - canvas, suede and cordovan - for everything: post hone, pre and after shave (20/40/60).

I like the ideas:

- stropping between stones while honing (thanks Euclid440)
- several progressively faster draw leather strops (thanks outback)
- stropping on lead-treated leather (thanks again outback and Sharptonn)

Will try all these for sure but what form of lead is applied to the leather please and how do you get it to stick?

I like to lead a linen strop. I just use a stick- on, tire weight. Lay it on a table, and rub it on the strop.

I only use mine after a fresh honing

I voted linen first then leather. This is only part of how I do it. After the leather I do an arm hair test. If i like the edge I strop on linen to remove hairs and bits of skin before putting the razor back. I never strop on leather before putting a razor back as I once read on SRP that some leather conditioners have a corrosive effect on carbon steel.

Originally Posted by outback

I like to lead a linen strop. I just use a stick- on, tire weight. Lay it on a table, and rub it on the strop.

I only use mine after a fresh honing

Mike-What does lead add to a newly-honed edge? Just smoother, like CrOx does? I've got a number of cotton and linen secondary strops on old vintage shells that I never use-thinking about trying this.

How much do you need to rub in? Will it gray up a bit? I normally follow CrOx stropping by a few quick strokes on my jeans to avoid cross-contamination before going to the leather. I would think you would follow the lead with something similar? I certainly wouldn't want any lead left behind during a shave.

Originally Posted by onimaru55

After honing an edge that's not quite there it improves massively after 3 or 4 strokes of palm stropping. I don't know what it is but maybe pressure is a factor. I use a fair bit on the palm after a stone. I've often wondered if the guys that do very few strokes strop harder than the guys that do hundreds of reps.

There may be something in the pressure thing. I don't palm strop but after watching videos of Liam Neeson and Mastro Livi slapping their blades hard onto leather, I gave it a try and indeed about 10 laps was enough to get to the level I usually reach after 50 laps without lifting the spine. I used an old and battered latigo strop (not my Kanayama - I'm sure the surface would be marked by the spine at point of impact) and one test is not statistically significant. Still, food for thought?

Originally Posted by MichaelS

There may be something in the pressure thing. I don't palm strop but after watching videos of Liam Neeson and Mastro Livi slapping their blades hard onto leather, I gave it a try and indeed about 10 laps was enough to get to the level I usually reach after 50 laps without lifting the spine. I used an old and battered latigo strop (not my Kanayama - I'm sure the surface would be marked by the spine at point of impact) and one test is not statistically significant. Still, food for thought?

Liam Neeson ?

"I will find you & I will strop you"

Liam Finnegan (thanks, been watching too many movies)

Always good movies with Liam

Gentlemen,

After honing, I strop on four different strops, with palm stropping making it five. All strops leather only.

25 strokes on an old a vintage Engles to clean up the blade.
50 strokes on a vintage Illinois.
100 strokes on a Tony Miller.
25 strokes on the Mastro Livi loom strop.
50 strokes on the palm of my hand.

Before each shave, I do 25 strokes on the linen and 50 on the leather on the Tony Miller; 25 strokes on the Mastro Livi leather; and about 25 strokes on the palm of my hand. After each shave, just to further clean up and dry the blade, I do 10 strokes on linen and 10 on leather.

A happy blade is a well stropped blade, is what I say.