Thread: Why is my brand new Livi Regrind putting scratches in my strop?

Originally Posted by sicboater

I don't suppose you took before and after shots of the spine did you? What polish did you use? I would love to see the blade and strop you are talking about.
-Rob

Hey Rob!
I used Master Formula Metal Gloss. I got it at a boat show, and it works great on pretty much anything I've tried it on. As you can see, the spine looks exactly the same, it's just shinier now

And luckily the strop suffered only superficial damage, so now the Livi & Kanayama are the best of friends!

Man, you guys sound like these "old women" on the watch forums. They buy a new watch and the first thing they do is remove the bracelet or original strap and put another on so the original gets no wear and then they fret over every tiny mar on the watch.

Razor's and strops are supposed to be used. The marks give it character and make it individual to fit the user. If I see a razor or strop that looks pristine I think, man that guy never uses it.

The only exception are the Kanayama strops. Their not supposed to be used. You display it and every so often just fondle it.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Man, you guys sound like these "old women" on the watch forums. They buy a new watch and the first thing they do is remove the bracelet or original strap and put another on so the original gets no wear and then they fret over every tiny mar on the watch. Razor's and strops are supposed to be used. The marks give it character and make it individual to fit the user. If I see a razor or strop that looks pristine I think, man that guy never uses it.

I agree with you that our straights and strops should not be coddled, and that all "tools" such as these will show wear after a while, but these are two brand new products! My Kanayama is only a few weeks old, and before this incident, I had stropped a few different razors on it, and none of them left even a single mark on the surface of a stop.

So one day I buy a brand new (and very expensive) razor. The first thing I do is strop it, and after 20-30 laps the stop gets scratched up like nobody's business. That's basically half of my stropping routine, and it shows dozens of scratches on the top and bottom parts of the strop. They aren't really that bad, but again - this was from just half of my normal stropping routine. What if I use this razor every day for a few months? What will it look like then? I am very happy that the metal polish fixed the whole issue.

This is the first razor I have ever owned with any type of decoration on the spine, so I did not know that this was normal. How was I supposed to know? I think that anyone would be surprised if something like this happened to them. It's great that SRP exists - I am very thankful to have so many helpful individuals just a few clicks away, and as it turns out the problem was easily solved, so I am very glad that I posted this thread.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

600-2000 grit wet-r-dry sandpaper if you want to actually solve the problem for good... Be careful how you do this as you only want to smooth the rough spots. nothing more, use the highest grit that will smooth it up...

The front corners of the big Friodurs are notorious for this too...

Now that is a heavy hand.... but it would work.
The 2000 wet/dry should be enough.

I was going to suggest time on the old
but serviceable pasted strop in the closet.
A couple hundred, fifty at a time buzzing strokes
on some 0.5 diamond or CrOx may calm it down too.

Never toss an old strop unless your name is Lynn and then
keep me in mind as the target.

Nice looking razor . If it is just light scuffs or even scratches the old palm of the hand every day for awhile will probably blend them in with the rest of the strop after awhile.

Originally Posted by niftyshaving

Now that is a heavy hand.... but it would work.
The 2000 wet/dry should be enough.

Actually, I was rather surprised that his was so mild, and so easily remedied, from the initial post I thought he actually had a real problem... Most of the time the 2000-1500 will fix stuff like that but with the worked spine I really thought he was going to have to go lower and remove a file burr.... Just goes to show what I perceived as a strop shredding problem from the post, was actually minor scuffs

Edit:
But I also just realized that if you missed the instruction in there that he might have also...

600-2000 grit wet-r-dry sandpaper if you want to actually solve the problem for good... Be careful how you do this as you only want to smooth the rough spots. nothing more, use the highest grit that will smooth it up...

Hmmmmm Might have to make those more clear next time, Thanks ...

It's like a new car. Once you get your first scratch you've been done a favor other wise you just keep freting about it. So the earlier the better in my view.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

It's like a new car. Once you get your first scratch you've been done a favor other wise you just keep freting about it. So the earlier the better in my view.

Very true, actually now that this happened I'm no longer worried about when I eventually get my first nick in this strop

As I've been following this thread all I could think about was if I ever purchased a worked spine razor and what it would do to my Kanayama. *shudders*

So, just last night I decided to revisit my Dovo Micarta that has an etched spine. Now my Kanayama has a nice zebra look to it. lol I can't see where it caused any damage to the strop. This doesn't happen when I use my SRD red latigo strop. I guess the Kanayama is just soft enough that little things appear.

Originally Posted by Logistics

As I've been following this thread all I could think about was if I ever purchased a worked spine razor and what it would do to my Kanayama. *shudders*

Same thoughts going through my mind. I've caught myself worrying (just a little) about the occasional tiny drop of water that will make the journey from the sink to the leather of the strop nearby...had to make myself snap out of it. Also had to move the strop away from the sink