Thread: Must the strop be perfectly flat?

I'm not talking about holding it taut, but width wise I don' think my strop is flat. In some spots the edges seem to raise a little higher than the center. Since I'm not putting any pressure on the razor, the center of the blade does not seem to be getting stropped.

In HHT tests, this seems to be the case. The heel and toe ends grab the hair nicely, or will cut them, but the center of the blade doesn't grab much at all. I can also see a difference in the reflection of light on the edges compared to the center.

Is this why people often draw the blade diagonally across the strop, and not straight down it? My strop is wide enough to accommodate the whole of my blade, so I have simply been running the razor straight down the strop.

I'm realizing how much easier this would be if my father had known all this and taught me in person when I was a teen. It is difficult to get without someone with you, even with the wealth of information and videos available.

That sounds to me like cupping, which is something you dont want. The strop should be flat so that the blade can make good and even contact with the leather the whole way across the strop.

I dont know exactly how to fix cupping, but applying some Fromm strop dressing or lather and then rolling it with a rolling pin on a flat surface might help. A nuclear option would be to briefly soak the strop in warm water and then let it dry slowly on a flat surface, then treat it with some Fromm afterwards and rub it with the side of a bottle.

Have a look at this Wiki article for strop treatment tips as well.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Thanks for the wiki link. I think I need to treat my strop a bit and get it flatter. I'm going to give it a good hand rubbing and try the glass bottle technicque

Originally Posted by markevens

Thanks for the wiki link. I think I need to treat my strop a bit and get it flatter. I'm going to give it a good hand rubbing and try the glass bottle technicque

Quick solution for a cupped strop that I've found works well:

Take a glass bottle (I use an Amber Bock beer bottle, just because I love Amber Bock) And, making sure you aren't rubbing with the seam of the glass, or the label, put flat, clean glass to strop, and rub back and forth... Keep the strop a little loose, a little bit of sag, and then PUSH into it with the bottle to create tension, then just strop the bottle... That should flatten her right out...

Also, using your palm to rub the strop every day is a good way to keep it supple and flat...

Hope that helps.

Cheers,
Jeremy

I've been working the bottle on the strop for about 30 minutes, which removed a lot of the cupping. The worst part is right by the handle, and it seems to be more resistant to the bottle than the rest of the strop. I'd say when I started, it was almost entirely cupped, and now probably only the 1/5 closest to the handle.

I can really see the difference a good stropping makes. I'll stop with the bottle and try with the razor, looking for shadow under the blade indicating the cupping. I'd also practice some stropping for awhile during this time and my god has the heal and toe become sharp! When I do the HHT, the hair snaps cleanly in two on the heal and toe ends the second it touches the blade. The center of the blade still won't even grab the hair, let alone cut it. There are inbetween areas where the hair will grab but not cut, and some where the hair will slice down the center (which I find fascinating).

So, gonna work the bottle some more. I'm also going to lather it up, as some of the barber guides suggest, since it is still quite waxy from the manufacturer.

Oh, and it is an Illinois Razor Strop Co. 127. Does anyone know if this is a decent strop, or did I pick up a piece of junk?

Edit: Did a quick search and found this thread, seems like this often needs a lot of breaking in. If I were to use a bit of sandpaper on it, would 325 be fine enough? Seems like 325 would be a bit coarse. Is there an alternative to strop dressing I could use? I seem to be buying a lot more stuff than I thought I would be.

Originally Posted by markevens

I've been working the bottle on the strop for about 30 minutes, which removed a lot of the cupping. The worst part is right by the handle, and it seems to be more resistant to the bottle than the rest of the strop. I'd say when I started, it was almost entirely cupped, and now probably only the 1/5 closest to the handle.

I can really see the difference a good stropping makes. I'll stop with the bottle and try with the razor, looking for shadow under the blade indicating the cupping. I'd also practice some stropping for awhile during this time and my god has the heal and toe become sharp! When I do the HHT, the hair snaps cleanly in two on the heal and toe ends the second it touches the blade. The center of the blade still won't even grab the hair, let alone cut it. There are inbetween areas where the hair will grab but not cut, and some where the hair will slice down the center (which I find fascinating).

So, gonna work the bottle some more. I'm also going to lather it up, as some of the barber guides suggest, since it is still quite waxy from the manufacturer.

Oh, and it is an Illinois Razor Strop Co. 127. Does anyone know if this is a decent strop, or did I pick up a piece of junk?

Edit: Did a quick search and found this thread, seems like this often needs a lot of breaking in. If I were to use a bit of sandpaper on it, would 325 be fine enough? Seems like 325 would be a bit coarse. Is there an alternative to strop dressing I could use? I seem to be buying a lot more stuff than I thought I would be.

To answer all your questions fairly quickly: Illinois strops are, in general, great quality and price, so their cheap enough to start with and nick, but good enough to keep using no matter how "veteran" you are.

If you're going to lather on your strop, that will make it more supple BUT it will also give it more draw... With your slick strop, that may not be a bad thing... Use Glycerine soap, get the strop nice and caked, then LEAVE IT OVERNIGHT. Let the strop/lather dry COMPLETELY, then brush it away with your hand or a towel... Then do some palm/bottle stropping and see where that leaves you.

I would not use sandpaper yet (but that's up to you) however I'd use somethign much finer than 325. Also, for strop dressing, there are a lot of things, but they all give the strop more draw... Most common is Neatsfoot oil.... However, I'd recommend lathering on the strop, letting it dry, brushing it away, and see what you get.

Also, don't put too much heart into the HHt... The only real test is the shave test... HHT can be useful for evaluation, but it's never the final word in sharpness... Some of my best shaving razors won't pass the HHT sometimes, but will literally wipe the hair away.

Good luck!

Jeremy

Well, I gave it the lather treatment and that did indeed soften it up a bit as well as give it more grab. I was really surprised how easy the dry lather came off, it just flaked away with the slightest touch.

It was still pretty cupped, so I bottle stropped it until my arm got tired 4-5 times. It was still showing some cupping, so I tried turning down the edges by hand and that helped a lot. Now its by and large flat, just a little warped near the top that came with the bottle stropping.

Originally Posted by Stubear

That sounds to me like cupping, which is something you dont want. The strop should be flat so that the blade can make good and even contact with the leather the whole way across the strop.
...

I had the same prob, but with a high center & dull heel & toe. A honing forum suggested I put a smile on the blade when setting the bevel, and to try 45 deg heel-leading stroke on the stones. I actually began doing the 45 heel-leading stroke on the strop & it made a fairly dramatic improvement.

I wasn't positive it was the strop until I stropped a blade nicely honed by sixgunner. When I stropped after a shave and the toe was still not sharp like it was, I knew it was the strop. I found this thread and scrubbed the leather w/ murphy's oil soap, and stroked the strop w/ a mayo jar - sized glass container. I then stropped, and the toe wasn't perfect, but way, way better. I continued rubbing the strop w/ the jar, and will repeat the oil soap/jar approach until it does the job w/ the normal x stroke.

'Ain't easy being a noob.

When you are talking about applying lather to your strop, do you mean just making normal lather with shave soap and water and then applying it with a brush?

Originally Posted by amt

When you are talking about applying lather to your strop, do you mean just making normal lather with shave soap and water and then applying it with a brush?

Yup. Just mix up your lather as you would for your face, but then apply it to the strop. You want to make sure to get an even coating, so that it all dries in the same amount of time.