Thread: Silent Strop

I recently got an SRD Modular Paddle. It's really quite nice. I'm very pleased with it, and I feel lucky I was able to get it. The leather strop that came with it was 'Premium 1' leather (and a piece of 'scrub leather' as well). The Premium 1 leather has a medium draw, at least in my not-so-expert opinion, and gives plenty of audible feedback - as you draw the razor up and down it, you hear a kind of zippy sound.

I decided to buy the 'Premium 4, English Bridle' strop they offer for their modular paddles. I've been using it for the past few days now, and although it looks and feels great to the touch, I'm a little concerned, because I get absolutely no feedback whatsoever - no 'zippy' sound at all. So, what am I doing wrong? Why is it so quiet, virtually silent, when I strop on the Bridle? Is that normal? Does it take some breaking in? And if it does need breaking in, is there anything I should be doing to help it along? Right now I'm just palm rubbing it every time I get a chance. Anything else I should/could do? It's probably not necessary to get some audio feedback, but I'm so used to it with my other strops, that I feel like something must be wrong without it. I'm probably worried about nothing though, right?

If anybody has any suggestions or advice, and they have some time, I would greatly appreciate any and all help.

Thanks,

Kenny

Both of the English Bridle strops I have gained a little draw over time (hardly a representative sample). Others have become slicker.

This is important only if the current lack of feedback makes you unconciously apply more pressure in an attempt to make it "feel like it's doing something". Little or no pressure is the ticket. Remember we are just polishing/burnishing the edge, not grinding.

Just enjoy your new strop, keep up the palm rubbing and have fun!

rs,
Tack

Originally Posted by Tack

Both of the English Bridle strops I have gained a little draw over time (hardly a representative sample). Others have become slicker.

This is important only if the current lack of feedback makes you unconciously apply more pressure in an attempt to make it "feel like it's doing something". Little or no pressure is the ticket. Remember we are just polishing/burnishing the edge, not grinding.

Just enjoy your new strop, keep up the palm rubbing and have fun!

rs,
Tack

Really good point you bring up there, Tack. I sure better not force it to make sounds. That would only lead to trouble. So I guess I'll just take it for granted that, noise or no noise, it's doing its job.

Thanks for pointing that out before I ruined something.

Take care,

Kenny

bruseth you should try the linen material Lynn sells. It's a great compliment to the modular paddle strop. The premium leather has a light draw but does its task of smoothing the blade.
I use the linen after a 12K stone then the smooth leather strop.

I wish my Ex. had a little English Bridle in her,,,got tired of hearing the feedback,,,,,

Originally Posted by Hirlau

I wish my Ex. had a little English Bridle in her,,,got tired of hearing the feedback,,,,,

lmao...I got one of those too! And if her hide were useful then maybe I could have stropped on it..lol

But to the OP...some strop materials are just like that...My Kanayama makes virtually no sound, the razor just glides over it and it works wonderfully.

My SRD English Bridle is the same way. I've owned three strops in total: Black Latigo, the Premium IV, and the Premium II. I've come to notice that when one of my strops has a "draw" feeling that the stropping sound is very quiet. I've tried the "palm rubbing" on all of them but I always find that they actually end up becoming slicker when I do this. The Premium II is very slick on it's own - virtually no draw and it has a "zing" sound when you strop on it. I was the same way: I always got the feeling like something wasn't quite right because I always hear of many, many people hand rubbing to help draw and feedback but this did not work for me. As for the English Bridle, I got mine about a month or so ago and hand rubbed it for a while and then when it developed a shine to it then I wiped a towel or something dry on it to get all of that oil off that was making it so slick and now it's right where I want it.

I tend to like that zing sound of the edge when stropping but I find that the shave feels more aggressive, especially on the neck where it leaves some redness when the strop doesn't draw at all. This is why I believe that draw does actually do something for the edge, because even on the same strop (the premium II), if I treat it with lather to get rid of the zing sound and get more draw from it, even with the same number of stropping strokes I get a vastly smoother shave on my neck. I wish I could explain why this is but if your premium IV doesn't give a lot of sound, I probably wouldn't worry about it.

Though all strops do the same thing equally well it's the feedback and feel of the strop that differs from critter to critter and type of finish. Unfortunately, when you are looking to buy the feedback isn't normally in the description. If that quality is important to you contacting the vendor and asking about it is the best course of action.

Originally Posted by rmagnus

bruseth you should try the linen material Lynn sells. It's a great compliment to the modular paddle strop. The premium leather has a light draw but does its task of smoothing the blade.
I use the linen after a 12K stone then the smooth leather strop.

About the linen material that Lynn sells... Does it come with magnetic backing so that it attaches to the modular paddle strop? If not, I suppose I could go to a craft store and buy some magnetic backing and then glue it on to the linen material - what do you think about that? I'd kind of like to try it now that you brought it up ;-) But maybe you weren't talking about using it with the modular paddle? Perhaps you just meant to buy a piece and attach it to one of my hanging strops?

Let me know what you think, if you get a chance.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Originally Posted by bruseth

About the linen material that Lynn sells... Does it come with magnetic backing so that it attaches to the modular paddle strop? If not, I suppose I could go to a craft store and buy some magnetic backing and then glue it on to the linen material - what do you think about that? I'd kind of like to try it now that you brought it up ;-) But maybe you weren't talking about using it with the modular paddle? Perhaps you just meant to buy a piece and attach it to one of my hanging strops?

Let me know what you think, if you get a chance.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Late response been so busy with work havent stopped in much lately. Nice to be back.

No there is no magnetic backing although it would be easy to apply. IMO you don't want or need it. Keep things simple. Lay the piece of linen on top of the paddle strop and make 5-10 passes, another 5-10 on the rough leather then 75-100 on the englisg leather. Blade will be super smooth. SOmetimes I skip the reough leather step all together.