Thread: Stropping problem - getting the razor to "sit down" evenly.

Major, The 3" strop is tougher to break in than the old standard of 2 1/2" but some grunt work will help to soften the leather.
I have been looking around the house to find a good household "tool" to recomend for use in breaking the fibers in your leather strop. The best I can come up with at my house is a metal folding chair, The framework is constructed from 7/8" round metal tubing. I think the top of the backrest would work to soften up the excessive stiffness that is problematic for you.
A chinup bar that goes across a doorway, or maybe a round table leg might work well too, even the top rail of a chainlink fence might be considered.
Just very tightly pull the leather over the rounded surface causing it to stretch.
I would start with the rougher side against the round surface for a few hundred passes before turning it over.
When putting the top grain down I would first hang a piece of fabric over the tool of choice so that it will slide with the leather so the stropping surface will not be abraided by the tools surface imperfections.
Just for fun I just measured the thickness of 5 leather strops. Four of them are from probably the 50s or 60s and one is new.
The older ones measured .0100", .0110", .0135"-.0140" and a very thick and stiff Russian leather at .0180. The new English leather is .0115".
The two I like best are the old at .0110" and the new one at .0115" which equates roughly to 7 oz. leather.
I too, am tempted to try Kangeroo leather for stropping.
It is very supple but it would be easy enough to pull it more taught when stropping to make up the difference.
Personally I would never treat my finishing strop with lather, neatsfoot oil, or anything else. Rubbing with the hand works well enough for me.
Good luck with your strop and good luck to you in your military service to our country.

Wow!! 13 posts appeared while I was typing!
As a follow up on the advise of others I will have to add that varying the taughtness of the strop will make a huge difference in the effect that stropping has on the bevel of your razor.
For two full years I did what you describe doing to an excess to prevent rolling of the edge. Typically I had no more than maybe 1/4" of droop in the strop and found that I needed way way more passes on the strop than many people needed.
Finally I loosened up until I have 1/2" - 5/8" droop and noticed a really big improvement in the effectiveness of my stropping.
What works for you and what works for me might be different.
The suppleness or stiffness of the strop as well as how much pressure is allowed on the razor all has an effect on the overall outcome of the stropping session.
You are on the right track though about your razor needing to have proper contact with the strop fairly uniformly along its path.
Working the leather back and forth along a rounded surface should allow your strop to break in much faster and allow it to work better for you,

Originally Posted by Galaxy51

Major, The 3" strop is tougher to break in than the old standard of 2 1/2" but some grunt work will help to soften the leather.
I have been looking around the house to find a good household "tool" to recomend for use in breaking the fibers in your leather strop. The best I can come up with at my house is a metal folding chair, The framework is constructed from 7/8" round metal tubing. I think the top of the backrest would work to soften up the excessive stiffness that is problematic for you.
A chinup bar that goes across a doorway, or maybe a round table leg might work well too, even the top rail of a chainlink fence might be considered.
Just very tightly pull the leather over the rounded surface causing it to stretch.
I would start with the rougher side against the round surface for a few hundred passes before turning it over.
When putting the top grain down I would first hang a piece of fabric over the tool of choice so that it will slide with the leather so the stropping surface will not be abraided by the tools surface imperfections.
Just for fun I just measured the thickness of 5 leather strops. Four of them are from probably the 50s or 60s and one is new.
The older ones measured .0100", .0110", .0135"-.0140" and a very thick and stiff Russian leather at .0180. The new English leather is .0115".
The two I like best are the old at .0110" and the new one at .0115" which equates roughly to 7 oz. leather.
I too, am tempted to try Kangeroo leather for stropping.
It is very supple but it would be easy enough to pull it more taught when stropping to make up the difference.
Personally I would never treat my finishing strop with lather, neatsfoot oil, or anything else. Rubbing with the hand works well enough for me.
Good luck with your strop and good luck to you in your military service to our country.

That is a great idea! Hadn't even thought of this.... but that sounds like exactly what I'm trying to do. I need to lessen/remove the rigidity.

Originally Posted by Galaxy51

A chinup bar that goes across a doorway, or maybe a round table leg might work well too, even the top rail of a chainlink fence might be considered.
Just very tightly pull the leather over the rounded surface causing it to stretch.
I would start with the rougher side against the round surface for a few hundred passes before turning it over.
When putting the top grain down I would first hang a piece of fabric over the tool of choice so that it will slide with the leather so the stropping surface will not be abraided by the tools surface imperfections.

I would never treat my finishing strop with lather, neatsfoot oil, or anything else..

I was thinking along these line too. If it were me I would start with a pretty open angle across the bar, rough side against the bar, and see if I could avoid the smooth side against the bar altogether. +1 on the no lather or neatsfoot. I use a little hard (pure)carnauba wax on my strop if it starts getting really dry, but otherwise nothing. I clean my strop daily with a damp towel quickly followed by vigorous rub with a dry towel.

I think you should try the X stroke as well. I have actually come around to thinner strops, because it forces you to use an X and they are usually cheaper. I had the same concerns as you do about one of my strops and you can clearly see parts of the blade not making good contact, but through the course of my X stroke all the blade touches at some point. It is harder/slower at first, but totally worth it in the end!!! How taut your strop should be is something you gotta play with and your pressure affects this as well IMO. The heavier your hand the tighter your strop should be, but we all strive to have that ever sought after feather touch from hones to strops to chins to women. Take your time, try the x, test the tension, then hit the lather and bottle if all else fails. If you lather your strop use a soap like MWF or Williams which is tallow based. Apply to the smooth side and let sit for a bit then wipe off the excess; this is also an excellent way to clean your current strop or a vintage you pick up second hand. Good luck and keep us posted. Also is it just an issue of your strop cupping laterally?

sorry mate missed responding to this,
correct I use normal shave lather applied with your brush to the smooth stropping side only & then rub it in with a smooth bottle for a couple of minutes, then whip down any remaining lather if any.

also +1 on definately still using an X stroke, no matter what size strop you have to help ensure the full blade edge with is being stropped.

also my strop is a BigDaddy 3" English Bridle I also did this for the replacement leather when I passed my original onto my Son-in-law as a beginner strop recently

If your going to do the shaving soap,Bottle program (it really works)Use a tallow based soap.

From the Star Shaving web site & included in their packaging

The Leather Strop is new, never used, tested and made by us, made in the U.S.A.; has a great draw and ready for razor stropping!
For Best Results use water and soap on the leather, such as your shave brush with shave soap. Also use the palm of your hand to rub the leather strop occasionally to help keep the leather pliable.
When the leather is not pliable use Neatsfoot oil and when the leather is dirty use Saddle soap.
Use a lint roller to keep the Linen strop clean.

I received an old strop with an eBay razor and it was severely cupped and used the lather and bottle on it to make it usable again. It works.

I'm sorry, but who the h-ll measures their "droop"

Get a paddle strop, PLEASE!