I've been shaving, straight razor style, for about a year now, and have always used a hanging strop. But I recently bought a Thiers Issard razor and with the razor came a little information sheet, which was really quite informative, stating that full hollow blades should be stropped on a sprung paddle. So, back I go to my mate Steve over at The Invisible Edge to buy a beautiful handmade bespoke item.
I tried the TI on the new strop last night, then tried the hanging hair test, no go. I even tried holding the hair with my fingers almost touching the blade, it still wouldn't cut. A little concerned I abandoned the paddle and used my hanging strop for a hundred strokes, grabbed another hair and this time it cut three out of three, point middle and heel of the blade.
I'm sure it's down to something I'm doing wrong, and obviously this is my first time using one, but just what could I be doing? My action was a little clumsy as it's quite different to a hanging strop but surely it couldn't make that much difference, could it?