Thread: TM Strop

Just ordered my first strop!!!
3" Heirloom Artisan Red Latigo Strops w/ Dee Rings (I added in the practice strop too)
From what I understand, TM makes GREAT strops and I know that I will be happy with this purchase.

Yea, ya done good.

I'd say don't get ahead of yourself with that practice strop. If I could have done it all over again I'd be quite deliberate with the stropping motion and my strop would have smaller nicks instead of deep slices on the edge. The motion builds into muscle memory quite fast, just don't rush it!

Take your time with the practice strop before moving on the the Artisan model.

I had a guy a while back tell me he nicked his good strop even though he spent a good 45 minutes using the practice strop ! <g>

I was thinking a week or two of every day practice myself before even taking the razor into the same room with the good one !

Tony

I at a year on the practice and haven't yet moved on to the 3" heirloom. I might get it out when I move into the new house hopefully later this year. I suppose my strop would be considered vintage now I think it is about three generations down on the TM strop evolution.

Don

i gotta get one of those does the practice strop work as as well as the good one does at straightening up the edge

The "practice" strop is from basically the same leather as the good ones but with cosmetic issues. They are about 2 3/8" x 19" to 24" with a straight cut top and bottom and a thong/bead assembly through a round hole.

They will have some hard or soft spots, a wrinkle or two, stains, etc.... but will do the same job. These are cut from usable, but not pretty areas of the same hides we use for our Artisans but not near the quality I would offer as a regular product.

Our Starters are different. They are from the exact same, first quality leather as the Artisans, just thicker so they stand up well without cotton or linen behind them. They are 2 1/2" x 24" with a metal thong/bead through a grommeted hole and have a cut handle shape on them, and are every bit as nice as the Artisan, just far less hardware and labor.

Tony

Originally Posted by Tony Miller

I was thinking a week or two of every day practice myself before even taking the razor into the same room with the good one !

I agree with Tony on this one. The danger of nicking the strop comes after you gain a little bit of confidence.I put a good sized nick in my starter about 2 weeks in.

I bought one of Tony's starter strops and used that until I was completely positive I wouldn't hack up my 3" Artisan. I would tell you how much time it took, but frankly I don't recall exactly and your learning curve may differ.