Thread: Strop or Hone?

Hi guys first time posting here and I have a little query. I have acquired 3 Razors in an eBay lot. A fine Joseph Rogers and Sons 5/8 Wedge, an AMA Solingen 5/8 Half ground and a Carrera that's a bit smaller than both.

None are Shave ready and they're my first razors, my questions are should I send them off to be professionally honed and start with decent shaving edges or continue to try to bring them back with stropping? How do I work out when an edge can't be achieved with stropping alone? How many laps are too many?

Thanks in advance of your expertise.

You should always start with a well honed razor. Stropping is a necessity but without having an edge that is well honed all the Stropping won't do you much good.

Definitely have a skilled professional hone it for you! And I mean a person experienced in honing straight razors, not knives. Think of it this way: honing makes the edge, stropping maintains the edge.
Several members here market their honing services in both the classifieds section and in the vendors section. Check them out!

I live in the UK so was going to send them to The Invisible Edge sharpening service. Has anyone used it before?

I've just read the overstropping thread, some funny stuff and interesting theories!! I think I may have taken my stropping as far as it can go.

Originally Posted by Duckcm18

I live in the UK so was going to send them to The Invisible Edge sharpening service. Has anyone used it before?

I've just read the overstropping thread, some funny stuff and interesting theories!! I think I may have taken my stropping as far as it can go.

As MLA and aespo said, honing and stropping are complimentary but separate processes. If you don't have a proper bevel set at the honing stage, you can strop for as long as you want and you won't get to shave-ready. I can't comment on The Invisible Edge, but I'm sure some of our UK members will chime in soon.

Originally Posted by Duckcm18

Hi guys first time posting here and I have a little query. I have acquired 3 Razors in an eBay lot. A fine Joseph Rogers and Sons 5/8 Wedge, an AMA Solingen 5/8 Half ground and a Carrera that's a bit smaller than both.

None are Shave ready and they're my first razors, my questions are should I send them off to be professionally honed and start with decent shaving edges or continue to try to bring them back with stropping? How do I work out when an edge can't be achieved with stropping alone? How many laps are too many?

Thanks in advance of your expertise.

Get the razors professionally honed, so you can feel what a shave ready edge feels like. Don't worry about honing yet, you should focus on shaving technique and stropping. Those 2 things will keep you busy for awhile Stropping is very important but it can't sharpen an edge. It can refine an edge and give you a smoother shave. Check this site's library for info on shaving and stropping. As for laps, as long as you are using proper stropping technique, I think you can't do too many laps. After awhile though, you aren't really helping the edge. A good place to start is 30 laps on webbing or linen, then 50 on leather. I'm still new but I'm sure the more experienced guys will give you better advice.

Is a lap a single length or up and down?

I wasn't going to Hone myself yet, but the economy does appeal.

1 lap = 1 stroke up and one stroke down.

Originally Posted by Duckcm18

Is a lap a single length or up and down?

I wasn't going to Hone myself yet, but the economy does appeal.

I know how you feel! But in all honesty you'll be doing yourself a disservice if you start honing right away. The reason is that when starting out, things might not work well right away. Let me rephrase, things probably won't work well right away. When that happens you then have to try to figure out what is wrong: is the blade angle wrong? Is my stropping to blame? Did I do a good job on the face prep? Too much pressure? Too little pressure? Etc., and so on. And if you're also honing your own blades you'll have to also ask: Is my honing to blame?

So at first, keep it simple. Get it honed by a pro to start with. Then you'll not only know what a shave-ready blade feels like, you also won't be wondering whether you screwed things up on the hone yourself because you will have eliminated that variable. The cost of honing is really not very much at all, and worth every penny. I struggled with a non-shave-ready blade for longer than I care to admit when starting out and could have saved myself a ton of bother by sending it to a pro right away.

Then once you're comfortable with the other bits of technique, have a bash at honing yourself.

Good luck!

Another option is to just get an inexpensive shave ready razor so that you know what sharp is and then if you want you can learn to hone the one you currently have.

Whipped Dog has them for $25 which is more or less what you will pay most places for a good honing job except with WD you'll get a used razor as well.