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I'm fairly new to stropping razors and I've heard mentioned the "drag" produced by some high quality, well-conditioned strops. Should a strop be extremely smooth to produce this drag, or do strops with more of a nubuck/suede surface exist. I guess my general question is do alternate theories exist about stropping as far as the texture/nap of a proper strop is concerned.
Smooth strops are whatyou want for daily stropping. I've got a roughout hanging strop, but it's pasted.
There is a difference between smoothness/roughness and draw. A rough textured strop will most likely have draw. A smooth strop however can have a huge amount of draw or very little depending on how it is treated, either in tanning or with applications of pastes. Most Dovo, Jemico, Illinois and my Heirloom Strops are smooth but all will have varying amounts of friction when stropping. Draw also does not always determine how well they will work. Some very smooth, frictionless strops actually seem to do a nice job in sharpening up an edge.
Lots of variables but not always a cold hard answer as to why it works.
Tony
Don't forget that draw is also a function of the razor as well as the strop. I've got two hollow ground 5/8 razors that shave equally as well. One has a ton of draw by the time I've finished stropping the other hardly has any. Don't know why but they are done on the same strop with the same number of passes.
I have a handamerican latigo strop which has a lot of draw and one i made myself from bridle leather which is very smooth, nearly frictionless. I do the majority of work on the latigo, then a final few strokes on the bridle to finish. I have also put CrO2 on the back of the bridle leather and these surface options are suiting me well.