Strop that is not perfectly flat?

I have a new Illinois #127 strop from classicshaving.com. I have it hanging in my bathroom and when I pull on the strop it doesn't seem to pull perfectly flat. It seems as if there is a off-camber thing going on. I can see that the blade is not meeting the strop perfectly flat the whole time, even though I am keeping the spine flat like I need to. The only way to keep it perfectly flat is to add more pressure than I feel is needed. It almost seems as if the blade is getting more dull by using the strop. Is this the case just because I need to break the strop in? I have been rubbing it with a bottle and have already used the fat from the yellow tube. I don't know if I just purchased a mediocre strop that wont lie flat, or if this problem can be solved.

Also, I have shaved about 4 or 5 times with my new DOVO singer, but I think it is time to have somebody hone it for me that knows what they are doing. I just think that the shave that I am getting is marginal because I lack honing skills. I have been practicing on a norton 4k/8k, it seems as if the blade is getting sharp (but wont pass hanging hair test) and has a bite when using the thumb test, but the strop seems to take out the bite and almost seems like it becomes more dull.

Some feedback would be wonderful.

Thanks, :thinking:

My understanding is that using a rolling pin or a glass bottle to roll over the strop should bring it back to flat status.

Randy

Ryan,
Can you describe the problem with the strop in more detail. by "off camber" do you mean some sort of twist from top to bottom? If so you may need to physically over twist it the other way, almost like you are wringing it out. A few of these and it should lay flat. often they have a cup of bow across the width of the strop. In that case you may need to bend it the opposite way to get it flat. The leather I buy comes rolled up and I must re-roll it the opposite way and let it sit a week or two until the memory of that roll goes away before cutting strops from it.
The leather does have a memory though and in a humid bathromm may very well go right back to it's original form no matter what you do.
So, twist it, roll it, whatever it needs to lay flat then keep it in a dry place.
Tony

I agree with Tony. I don't recommend keeping the strop in the higher humidity space of the bathroom. I have mine hanging in the kitchen, where they can serve double-duty for my kitchen cutlery. Be sure to afix the strop swivel to something you can give a real tug to, in order to pull the strop very flat.

Also, strop very slowly at first, paying attention to technique. The TV/movie images of the barber stropping a blade faster than the eye can follow are something someone who has been stropping for years will eventually mimic with good results. But a beginner trying to immitate that speed will surely end up with a very nicked-up strop a less than ideal edge.