Thread: Stropping Preferrences

After a shave i dry with tissue paper and then leave the razor open but without exposing the edge..

The razor normally gets re honed after that.. 50 Cotton / 50 Leather
Cheers

Before the shave: about 50 on leather; If it's a coticule edge or the blade hasn't been honed in a long time, about 20 on linen before the leather (linen treated with white Herold paste)

After the shave: dry blade and scales with micro fiber cloth including between the scales and around the pivot. Further dry the edge with 10 passes on suede leather strop. Then immediately oil the pivot pin and leave razor out to dry for a day. If the razor goes into storage, I'll coat all metal with petroleum jelly.

Originally Posted by STF

40 good laps on English Bridal

Bridal strops are for the S&M crowd. For razors we use bridle leather.Just funin' ya.

I don't know. Bridal strops sound kinda fun.

Originally Posted by Johntoad57

I just recently found the magic in balsa wood and diamond paste thanks to one of our members here (CresentCityRazors). So I've kind of changed up my routine.

Before the shave - 20 laps on CrOx pasted linen and 40 laps on leather and finish with a 40 lap palm stropping. That didn't change.

However, I took all 8 razors in my rotation (was time to refresh anyway) and applied the method of using balsa wood and diamond paste. I use 4 pieces of balsa wood. Applied CrOx on one, 1 micron diamond paste on one, 0.5 micron on one and finally 0.25 micron on one. Gave them 30 strokes each.

Since these razors already have outstanding edges and bevels, this mornings shave was about the same, maybe a little smoother. It was still a very smooth close 2 pass shave. I didn't notice a difference until I conditioned my face after the shave. Huge difference! My face didn't have any rough spots at all! I sometimes have tiny rough spots. Smooth as smooth could be!

After the shave - 10 laps on leather strop, oil, and return to rack for next use.

So in review, I plan on using balsa wood strops to refresh my razors often. It really did improve the shave I must say!

If you set up a .1u balsa strop, you will find the edge actually feels more comfortable on the face (i.e. if you use a low shave angle!) than the .25u, and that once the razor is dialed in, you don't need the other grits, just a daily post-shave stropping on the .1u. You will probably find that over the first half dozen shaves that the edge will continue to improve in comfort and cutting ability. Just remember keep the angle low cause it will sure cut and exfoliate you otherwise.

If you get your diamond paste in the 20g tubs from Kent, they do not sell .1u diamond paste. You will need to buy from Ted Pella, TechDiamondTools, or some other vendor and it will probably be in a 5g or 10g syringe format. So far, I have not found any of the Chinese stuff on fleabay or Amazon to be significantly inferior. Concentration is not critical. Size grading kinda is but your chances are very good that anything labeled .1 micron will work just fine.

I do 50 laps on the balsa after every shave on the .1u and edges stay brilliantly sharp. Not through any particular skill of mine... I am not an edge magician, but the stuff just works once The Method is dialed in. I haven't been stropping on leather post-shave. I prefer to lather my face and then strop on leather while the lather stands on my face.

I dry the razor by pulling it through some folded TP or my tshirt, and I let it sit out on my desk for an hour or two before closing it up. I almost never get any water on or between the scales and our AC keeps the house pretty dry so any moisture between scales will dry up pretty quick. I don't oil. For long term storage I use petroleum jelly or motor oil. Motor oil is formulated to leave a long lasting film on steel and not bead up. Petroleum jelly is great for deep storage. All oil is wiped off before stropping and shaving so its not like I am poisoning myself by injecting motor oil. It is free, since it is just the dribbles left in the jug from adding or changing oil. Obviously, don't use used oil. It doesn't make as good of a film. Note that all oil will stain some scales so apply sparingly.

My two favorite strops are a compressed cowhide one that I made a few years ago, and a Kanayama. I mostly use the cowhide. It is whistle-quick and has the style of hardware that I like, but the Kanayama has a luxurious feel to it so sometimes I go like 30 on each.

After the shave I dry my razor with a face towel or Kleenex and then strop it 15 times on rough leather and 40 on smooth. Shave and repeat.

Preshave 20 linen, ~50 leather. Dry with folded tissue, plus 10 linen, 10 leather. Into the razor burka (silicon treated sleeve) and back into the drawer. I live in a desert, moisture and oxidation are not an issue here.

Originally Posted by cau

... I live in a desert, moisture and oxidation are not an issue here.

Yeah, my brother was born in Ft. Worth. My Mom said when they lived there she would hang clothes on the line and by the time she got done she could start taking them back down. Here in Florida if it's overcast they could hang out all day and still be damp.

And now, back to our regularly scheduled program.

Originally Posted by CrescentCityRazors

If you set up a .1u balsa strop, you will find the edge actually feels more comfortable on the face (i.e. if you use a low shave angle!) than the .25u, and that once the razor is dialed in, you don't need the other grits, just a daily post-shave stropping on the .1u. You will probably find that over the first half dozen shaves that the edge will continue to improve in comfort and cutting ability. Just remember keep the angle low cause it will sure cut and exfoliate you otherwise.

If you get your diamond paste in the 20g tubs from Kent, they do not sell .1u diamond paste. You will need to buy from Ted Pella, TechDiamondTools, or some other vendor and it will probably be in a 5g or 10g syringe format. So far, I have not found any of the Chinese stuff on fleabay or Amazon to be significantly inferior. Concentration is not critical. Size grading kinda is but your chances are very good that anything labeled .1 micron will work just fine.

I do 50 laps on the balsa after every shave on the .1u and edges stay brilliantly sharp. Not through any particular skill of mine... I am not an edge magician, but the stuff just works once The Method is dialed in. I haven't been stropping on leather post-shave. I prefer to lather my face and then strop on leather while the lather stands on my face.

I dry the razor by pulling it through some folded TP or my tshirt, and I let it sit out on my desk for an hour or two before closing it up. I almost never get any water on or between the scales and our AC keeps the house pretty dry so any moisture between scales will dry up pretty quick. I don't oil. For long term storage I use petroleum jelly or motor oil. Motor oil is formulated to leave a long lasting film on steel and not bead up. Petroleum jelly is great for deep storage. All oil is wiped off before stropping and shaving so its not like I am poisoning myself by injecting motor oil. It is free, since it is just the dribbles left in the jug from adding or changing oil. Obviously, don't use used oil. It doesn't make as good of a film. Note that all oil will stain some scales so apply sparingly.

My two favorite strops are a compressed cowhide one that I made a few years ago, and a Kanayama. I mostly use the cowhide. It is whistle-quick and has the style of hardware that I like, but the Kanayama has a luxurious feel to it so sometimes I go like 30 on each.

The diamond powders to make paste/emulsions are most likely sourced from China and it's dirt cheap in China, so as long as those are from a proper factory in China, they are good enough. The only thing is that you will need to be clear on the standards of the specs, just don't simply look for 0.1 micron(this can be W0.25 in Chinese standard, and some 0.25 micron are actually W0.5) but instead you will need to look for W0.1 for Chinese branded ones, or 0.1-0 micron from other sources. I bought lots of them from different sources and found some 0.1 were much finer than the others, so had to dive into different standards to find out why. Lots of fun readings though.

I put the W0.1 paste on leather strop and did post shaving stropping for 10 laps or so each shave. It did initially improve the edge but after ~3 months, the edge was full of micro chips. I think I must have done too many laps.