Thread: Strop Scratches

This morning I noticed a few scratches running the length of my strop. I then found a slight nick in my razor. (No idea how it got there, it's just there. Time to get it honed.) I took a few pictures of my strop, but the scratches don't show very well. What I am wondering is, do I have to replace the strop? How can I rehab it? It has served me well (I think, I'm still new at this) and it only has a few very minor nicks from overzealous flipping at the end of my stroke. Seems like a shame to have to get rid of it.

Thanks,

Christenskg

Christenskg,

Not to worry! I can't see them, and if they're not protruding up from the strop surface pretty significantly, they're not a problem. We all get scratches now and then.

The razor....It may need some attention if the strop didn't correct the edge. Just depends on what put the burr on the razor to cause the scratches.

If you have a barber's hone or finisher, a few strokes may very well correct that. If you have a pasted strop....it may also fix the edge issue.



Howard

Thanks, SirStropalot.

I think razor will need a honing. It has a barely visible nick in the blade. You can't see it unless you put it up to a white back light. I could have shaved with it forever and never noticed had I not seen some scratches. I still don't know much about stropping, I have watched and read everything I can, but wonder the whole time if I am doing it right. The edge on my blade has held up well, so I am assuming I can't be doing too bad. I know nothing about pasted stropping, or honing. These are my next skills to master.

Originally Posted by christenskg

Thanks, SirStropalot.

I think razor will need a honing. It has a barely visible nick in the blade. You can't see it unless you put it up to a white back light. I could have shaved with it forever and never noticed had I not seen some scratches. I still don't know much about stropping, I have watched and read everything I can, but wonder the whole time if I am doing it right. The edge on my blade has held up well, so I am assuming I can't be doing too bad. I know nothing about pasted stropping, or honing. These are my next skills to master.

If you're not detecting the nick causing the scratches when you're shaving, then it's a very small flaw.

To help with stropping, here's a very good thread with comment and videos.....http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...st-2012-a.html

Honing....There are a bunch of vids, but here's a link to gssixgun's honing vids. Very Good!!
http://m.youtube.com/results?desktop...l=1&sa=X&gl=US

Sounds like you're doing a lot of things right!!

Hang in there!!! And

Regards,

Howard

Howard hit it,
Keep on stropping in the free world!

I take it from your join date, that youi have been using the strop for a good few months, and that as you didnt pluralise "razor" that you have just the one.
If this is the case, and you use the razor regularly, and it still shaves comfortably, you are probably at the least not stropping badly.
If the scrathes are not causing a raised area in the leather i would just leave it.

I recently experienced this same problem and I'm glad to know my strop is probably not ruined. It still feels smooth to the touch over the scuffed areas. But I noticed a burr on one of my razors a few weeks ago, and then another, after stropping the other day.

I know it's my stropping technique. I use the SRD modular paddle and I find that I have to put slight pressure on the blade to keep the far end from lifting off a bit after each transition. Is the slight pressure the right way to go about it, or is there another recommended technique?

A good leather strop is pretty forgiving, you can strop on a cut and nicked strop and it will still produce an edge. Yours is not even close to that kind of damage.

Just rubbing the strop with your hand or a clean paper towel briskly will smooth the leather, paper is mildly abrasive.

Test your edge with a Q Tip, lightly drag the cotton tip on the edge from heel to toe, any chip even micro will snag the cotton. Get some magnification to check further, you can get good magnification for 3-15 dollars, there are several threads her recently on magnification.

Touch it up with a high grit stone or barber hone if stropping on linen does not take care of it.

Find a local mentor to speed your learning curve and some hands on help.