Thread: draw

Is your strop cold perhaps? When it gets real cold my strop looses draw

Only have 2 strops, a bridle leather and a shell Cordovan leather, and both do the job but have a slightly different feel when stropping. Always thought the difference in feel was the difference in draw, one lighter than the other. Personal preference to the shell Cordovan strop's feel.

Bob

All I use use are vintage russian shells or aberdeen scotch shells,Draw?? I have no clue about.Really never pay any attention to it.

Another thing you might want to check for is cupping. Maybe the edge is making such minimal contact with the strop surface that stropping is having much less effect than usual.

Cupping is an obvious flaw in a strop. We don't want to go there!

All strops do the same thing. The differences between them are cosmetic and the way they feel. Draw is just one of those characteristics some like and some don't but it has nothing to do with performance. If you use a strop long enough it will develop a polish much like a leather chair develops one over time but that doesn't affect performance either.

Draw is the resistance one feels when moving the blade over the leather. It's a subjective preference and does not affect the resulting edge on the razor. I've had strops with light, medium and heavy draw. I have a personal preference for a light draw, but I've never noticed that the amount of draw has anything to do with the finished edge.

If your razor is not holding its edge, it's not because the draw on your strop is too light. You have a horsebutt strop, which has a very light draw. I also have a 3" horsebutt and it's one of my favorites. I've never put any neatsfoot oil on it precisely because I don't want to increase the draw.

What is the other strop you have which is giving you better results?