Thread: Straight Strop Twisted Mind

I really hate posting this. So I have a perfectly good 2 1/2" Strop, couple little feathery lifts of leather at the hand end....I'm doing the hand warming ritual and actually enjoying it...then I read about some guy putting the strop across his forehead....and I think...you know, being as I wash my hands now about 248 times a day.....I probably could use a little more natural oil. That went ok and nothing really changed on the strop...just some smudgy spots which I did not care about that much......but I could not stop there, I think I have a tube around that has that yellow stripe and decide to put a very small amount into my palm, rub my hands together and really smoke that strop. My strop just went from 60 to 15.....it is so damn slow now.....has anyone else been this ignorant and does the speed ever come back. I really dislike this draw and it has taken the fun out of stropping.

Uh oh! Well, it will speed up somewhat in time as the grease is absorbed further by the leather but it will likely remain slow. You can try scrubbing the strop with lather, blotting dry, and more hand rubbing. I have heard of people actually ironing a strop after covering with paper towels and using very low heat but have never tried it myself. I'd be very careful with that technique.

I too prefer a "fast" strop with little or no draw so I can sympathize with your predicament. Good luck.



rs,
Tack

I did that to a paddle strop of mine in the early days of learning, still has heavy draw with more wedgy razors. I used it as my "excuse" to pick up another strop.

Oh man, is that ever a good idea!

Originally Posted by shooter74743

I did that to a paddle strop of mine in the early days of learning, still has heavy draw with more wedgy razors. I used it as my "excuse" to pick up another strop.

not sure about the paste but I used a very light coat of Nivea vitamin E cream with a bottle on my Big Daddy to help break it in
and yes it increased the draw a lot at first but that was a month or so ago now and you would not know it was ever done
the paste maybe thicker & take longer to dry out a bit more just keep the daily rub & strop it should come out

Originally Posted by WW243

Oh man, is that ever a good idea!

I'm a great enabler...order some crox or diamond for your "old" strop as it can still be used for this purpose quite nicely.

So what do's Draw mean? I think it means nothing,fast draw, slow Draw,heavy Draw, no draw.As long as the blade edge contacts the leather in a proper manner,It will do it's job just fine.
Draw, Like Love, is just a feeling has zero effect.

You know, there is a bit of insane logic to this so I'll give it a try. Since I can't afford a new strop right now, I'll try no draw on no strop.....

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

So what do's Draw mean? I think it means nothing,fast draw, slow Draw,heavy Draw, no draw.As long as the blade edge contacts the leather in a proper manner,It will do it's job just fine.
Draw, Like Love, is just a feeling has zero effect.

I purchased two strops when I first started out,
an Illinois #127 and a #827, the #127 was slick, the Russian Leather on the #827 offered a considerably more resistance or draw.
I started using the #127 as I thought I was having to press down to much to keep good contact on the #827
on the #127 I was not getting great results, although not damaging the edge it was not improving either.
After around a month I switched to the #827 this forced me to use a bit more pressure to keep contact and keep a fluid motion.
My edges improved literally overnight, I am still partial to a medium to heavy draw, in my minds eye it feels like I am doing something
even though I can now get a great edge off of either of them.
Bill is right it is a personal thing as they all do the job.
However I found the heavier draw to be a great training aid on what proper pressure is allowing me to improve the edge.

You're lucky this ain't Dodge City in the 1860's, man with slow draw gets buried with his boots on,,,