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I didn't like the rough canvas I had on the back of one of my strops and didn't get very good results from it. So I had a pair of denim carpenters jeans that were tore up so I decided to make a denim strop. I just did 100 laps on the denim then went to my latigo then to my horse hide, and the denim really helped smooth out the edge quite a bit.
Now what is your stropping progression, and what types of odd materials have you had success with?
Back and forth with a flip over the spine at each end, spine leading the edge...:)
Sorry, had to be a smartarse, it's in my nature. I don't bother to count and I use both sides of a home made 'roo hide strop.
Mick
I roo too! Never used anything but leather in my life. Well, I have tried other things like linen or canvas (even corduroy), but really they never added anything for me, IMO. I just keep going until I feel the edge is ready, then I stop.
James.
new to this, very new, under two months.
I was using leather only for a while, then I tried leather/linen, wrong order, I think.
Just switched it around, linen then leather and am getting MUCH smoother shaves, I think.
Do about 50 laps on each and will play with the numbers/ratios over time.
My normal routine is 40 linen/60 leather. Off the hones I'll increase my leather laps to the 80-100 region. If it's a heavy wedge I'll increase the ratio to perhaps 50 linen/100 leather.
Ten to 15 laps on the flesh (rough) side followed by 50 laps on the grain (smooth) side of a Poor Man's Strop. After about 2 months of shaving daily, I will do 30 laps on CrOx and 30 laps on FeOx balsa strop followed by 50 laps on the smooth side of the leather strop.
Tony Miller Heirloom tri-strop: 3x25 laps
Kanayama 3000, 20 on the linen and 60 on the cordovan.:tu
30 on linen 60 on leather 10 on the palm of my hand.
I just use black latigo and do 50 pre shave and 25 post shave. Don't have a linen strop.
I only do a few on linen, then 30 on cowhide treated very sparingly with Dovo Black Paste, then 50 on plain horsebutt. Sparingly with the Dovo Black.
Jerry
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Fresh off the stone, i do anywhere from 20-60 on my well worn, swarf-stained TM linen (great stuff now that it's aged!) & Alan's ATG stropping regimen: 20 strokes w/ a bit of pressure, a few more w/ less & then 10-20 w/ very light pressure. Leather is my Scrupleworks 3"--the only strop I even use these days, except for my TM linen. The leather is that good.
For keeping the edge going, i do quite a bit on that same TM linen:60-100 strokes. For me, it was the missing ingredient. My beard is a complete razor destroyer & I sometimes get more comfortable results on parts of my chin doing WTG w/ a very steep blade angle as opposed to XTG or even ATG in some spots, which accelerates the damage even further. 2 shaves max before it starts to pull (keep in mind, my face is ultra-sensitive to pulling or even normal resistance while shaving, so my definition of pulling will not necessarily be the same as yours) if I don't really get on the strop. I'm thinking the embedded iron oxide (it is an abrasive) helps clean off the gunk & smooth everything back out. My (almost new) Scrupleworks linen is great stuff, but being so new, it's nowhere near as effective at repairing damage--yet. Certainly does no harm & does a great job of cleaning, but after a 3 pass shave, I go to the TM for a bit, followed by a few on the Scrupleworks linen to break it in.
When I was trying this out, I did sets of 20 laps & tried popping arm/leg hairs (the only version of the HHT that really tells me much about shave-readiness) until it stopped getting better.
Then on leather, I go & do Alan's ATG regimen again & the blade is good to go. I try not to do too many light-pressure stokes on leather as I find it smooths the razor, but takes away a tiny bit of sharpness. Not enough leaves it pretty-much off-the-Oozuku sharp, but nowhere near as smooth. Balance is best for me, it seems. If in doubt, I hit it again w/ the linen & I'm usually back in business.
May seem extreme, but for me, it's the key to having edges last a normal time. If this doesn't prove "YMMV", I don't know what will. :D
I have tried many surfaces, pasted and plain, but leather has no equivalent. I go straight from my Naniwa 12K to CrO balsa and then leather only for me until it needs to rotate back to the 12K, or if necessary back to my 4k/8k Norton. There is still some debate on whether any other intermediate material is necessary or even helps in the hands of the inexperienced. I am increasingly convinced from discussions on this forum that beginners would do better with a flat, wet-stone size surface like a leather paddle for stropping because so many seem to mess up with the flexibility of the hanging strop. I think plain newspaper on the edge of a table would be more reliable for some newbies. I have used this in a pinch and consider it to be very close, but not equal to leather.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimbo
Attachment 88496
Gentlemen,
I strop south to north, 30 laps on the canvas and 60 on the leather. Off the hone, the count is 100 strokes, leather only.
