Thread: New 3" strop and 2 sided paddle

Wow, Got my Strops from Tony today. Superb quality. Can't wait to test them out tonight. I've got a few straights honed and waiting for the paddle stropping, then I'll see how good or bad I am at this honing and stropping lark.
I'll let you know after I shave.
Gary

Gary,

What strops did you get? Is the 3" one a hanging strop (I'm thinking about getting one)? Let us know how it went.

Ed

Ed,

Yeah I got the 3" hanging and 2 1/2" double sided paddle.

Gary

Thanks Gary. I have the 2 1/2 inch two-sided paddle and thats my main strop. I really like it because I can be very precise with the amount of pressure and edge contact. I was thinking of getting the 3" hanging strop to give it a try so I welcome your thoughts on how it performs.

Ed

Well I gave stropping ago tonight. The story.

I bought a great condition Bengal 6/8 but it certainly wasn't anywhere near shave ready, in fact blunt-ish.

I gave it 20 passes on a 6000 Japanese waterstone.
Then 20 passes on each side of a paddle strop. 1 and 0.5 micron.
Then 50 passes on a 3" red latigo from Tony.
Then shaved with it.

Well I must be lucky or gifted, great shave, very smooth.

Since, I have stropped all of my shave ready straights ready for shaving. I'll give them a quick lick before I use them.

I then cleaned and honed, pasted and stropped a Peres 5/8 Barber's King. This straight had a little tarnish but really nothing. Cleaned up well. It is now very nice. I left one bit of my right cheek to test it on, brilliant.

Now this may be beginners luck, but I'm a very happy chappy right now. I've taken two totally different razors and got them to a state I'm very happy with.
I have one of Lynn's and two of Bill's to measure by and I'm delighted with how far I've got. No tugging, pulling or harshness and a baby's butt finish. I followed instructions to the letter, didn't use any pressure to speak of other than ensure flat even contact.

In conclusion. This is really good stuff. Tony's products ROCK. The instructions from all at SRP are worth gold (but I'm not sending any) and it can only improve.

To improve on this, well my wife Catherine has just made me a cup of tea.

Gary

That's super Gary. Now, if you're like me, when you try to repeat it doing what you think it was that worked for you, you'll get it wrong. It's not all bad though. I still get the chance to learn from the mistake. I just make it a little later on.

X

I hear you xman. I never said I had it licked though

Just when you think it's safe to go back into the water...<insert jaws music>...scream for help from honemeister...

Until then, scrape away in sheer bliss.

Gary

Gary,

That's great to hear about your success. I've yet to hone any of my razors but I hope to start soon. After reading about all the problems people have, it's nice to hear that someone started out and got it right.

Ed

I'm pleased to hear that patience, education, and practice have once again proven themselves.