Thread: Stropping/maintenance setup

got a bit of a dilemma....i have only just started to use a straight razor and was thinking about going out and buying a set of nortons/naniwas. But i read a lot of advice about giving it a good 6 months shaving to get used to it, before diving into the honing side of things. So now i am wondering what would be best in terms of general maintenance for keeping a really keen edge.

Some of the ideas i have thought about are:
- a four sided strop with various diamond pastes (theinvisible edge do what seems like a great set of diamond pastes and four sided strop)
- the poor mans strop kit from whipped dog
-a 10k/12k naniwa
- just a really nice linen/leather strop

What does everyone think would be best? my max budget is ~£100. would a substantial pasted strop routine be more useful than a finishing stone? or is a simple strop enough to keep a well honed edge for months on end?

Thanks!

Well I hate to say that you are going to need a strop pretty much no matter what. Maybe you can pick up to and have one pasted with something like chromium oxide or a diamond spray and keep the other one clean.
Stones are great but you may not always have to go to that length to get a blade back up to snuff.

You definitely need to learn to strop before trying to hone. Two different motions and techniques. You need to learn how to maintain an edge before trying to create it w/ stones. Get some cheap balsa and some chromium oxide paste, smear a little on, let it sit overnight then wipe off most of the gummed up excess. Stropping on that 5-10 laps then linen, then leather will be enough to keep your edge going for many months. During that time you can decide on buying a combo stone. Since you are in the U.K. I would recommend the naniwa 5k/8k combo.

Like they said you need a strop. it's like getting a new car with no oil in it. You will use that every time you shave. After that to keep the blade at maximum keenness you will have to use a hone every now and then. 8K and above is what you will need. You can also use pasted strops to a point.

thanks for your help everyone! i forgot to mention i do have a very cheap strop i got off ebay. I am practicing with it daily and think i am getting the technique down. Basically my question is whether i should get another strop to paste OR a finishing stone.

Do some people completely leave out pasted strops and go straight from finishing stones to plain strop?

They do, it's totally up to your face. Most that stop honing on say an 8k usually choose to go to a pasted strop (there again, some are ok w/ that edge, but not me personally). Others go to higher grit stones and stop: I use a 12k naniwa, and that gets me the sharpness I am looking for, but not the smoothness. Some go farther w/ a pasted strop: I use about 15 laps on chromeox then strop on linen leather; that gets me the smoothness "I" am looking for. Try the 8k edge, if not to your liking, go higher, that ok? yes, no need for paste, not quite there? then try diamond or chromeox.

thanks thats very helpful! i think i want as sharp and smooth as possible, so i will go ahead and get some pasted strops straight away, then i might get a 12k naniwa for touch ups further down the line.