Thread: First Strop Purchase... Assistance required.

What is the linen for.. what does it do differently to the leather ?

thanks..

MattUK,

>>What is the linen for.. what does it do differently to the leather?<<

AHA!!! Therein lies the rub, or the strop. Opinions abound on this matter and since I don't know doodly whoop about the finer points of stropping, I hope to be able to lean back and learn a thing or two.

Other questions worth asking are: how much tension do you use to keep the strop straight, how straight (taut) should it be, and how much pressure do you use holding steel to strop?

Bruce

Good questions.. I'll also sit back and wait for a reply

LOL

You use enough tension to keep the strop straight for any given amount of pressure you apply with the razor. So..light pressure lower tension, heavy pressure high tension, sorta thing, you get my point.
Try not to deflect the strop any more than a fraction but not trying to pull the dam thing off the wall
Razor pressure on the strop is grind related in so much that, with a full hollow a lot of pressure would deform the blade and defeat the objective. So in this case it would be light pressure and enough tension on the strop to keep it taught. As the grind gets heavier you can up the pressure if you so desire and make compensation on the strop tension to accommodate this extra pressure.

You will get the feel of it if you start with Very high tension on the strop( arm ache potential) then gradually slacken the strop but maintaining the same weight on the razor. You should notice that when slack the razor makes more of a "hisssss" than a swoosh and feels like the draw increases more towards the edge than the spine. Very hard to put into words, what is a very subtle set of responses. Practice with an old razor that is sharp till you get the feel of it.
(razor has to have an edge to get the right note of the strop I find) At the point just before the note changes to a hisss is when I find it's just right.

Like I said Practice will show you the best marriage between razor and strop.

PuFF

was i reading too fast? the line was used for ???

The linen can be used for:

Cleaning the razor
Building a draw
Unsmoothing the edge
Applying a light honing paste
Gross edge alignment

Unfortunately, the linen is to stropping what a screwdriver is to carpentry, in that its function can be varied or even potentially ignored.

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

The linen can be used for:

Cleaning the razor
Building a draw
Unsmoothing the edge
Applying a light honing paste
Gross edge alignment

Unfortunately, the linen is to stropping what a screwdriver is to carpentry, in that its function can be varied or even potentially ignored.

Hey AFDavis. What do you mean by unsmoothing the edge?

Furthermore, can you give any tips on how you would perform each of your functions. I get the honing paste, but is the difference between cleaning and draw just about timing (i.e. after a shave vs. before stropping on leather) or are you also referring to changes in technique.

Thanks.

Originally Posted by shavingsamurai

was i reading too fast? the line was used for ???

...The Canvas or Linen Strop is generally used before final stropping on the leather strop. It's purpose is to provide a very honing to the razor's edge, replacing most of the keenness which was lost in it's last use. While it has proven effective for this purpose, it will not sharpen a dull razor but will extend the period between honings...

http://www.classicshaving.com/articl...90351/4052.htm

Thanks everyone...

A 3" paragon has been ordered with Tony