Thread: Two sides to the Strop....

A good question for the seller.

While you're at it you could enquire who made the strop & what 'genuine grade leather' is. I have'nt a clue.

It is what it is. It's just a beginner strop and I'm still learning so everything is cool. I hit the black side first then the tan side second and it felt great. Maybe tomorrow I'll switch it up, no worries. You can see from the pics my strop tech could use some work....no matter how slow I go.

Charlie

Originally Posted by charliechevy

It is what it is. It's just a beginner strop and I'm still learning so everything is cool. I hit the black side first then the tan side second and it felt great. Maybe tomorrow I'll switch it up, no worries. You can see from the pics my strop tech could use some work....no matter how slow I go.

Charlie

Whoah there. Stropping should be done in progression. Just like honing.
You really need to determine which is smoothest. Should be easy?
Rough side first, smooth side x3. Never go from the smooth to the rough. Makes no sense?

Just to tack on to my original post. I don't use linen because it feels like it takes my edge backwards in keenness but it does do well to tone down an over sharp edge for me. I do finish on a crox pasted strop.

Originally Posted by jfk742

Just to tack on to my original post. I don't use linen because it feels like it takes my edge backwards in keenness but it does do well to tone down an over sharp edge for me. I do finish on a crox pasted strop.

If you take a shaven edge, strop it on fabric, it may never improve. Strop it on fabric and then a pile of leather, will make great shaves happen. JMHO

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Whoah there. Stropping should be done in progression. Just like honing.
You really need to determine which is smoothest. Should be easy?
Rough side first, smooth side x3. Never go from the smooth to the rough. Makes no sense?

Again...I didn't recognize a smoother side initially, but as we all begin I'm learning as we go. Heck of a shave afterwards....thanks for the comments all!

Charlie

Originally Posted by sharptonn

If you take a shaven edge, strop it on fabric, it may never improve. Strop it on fabric and then a pile of leather, will make great shaves happen. JMHO

I feel like fabric is good for either cleaning the bevels or being loaded with an abrasive, in my case as a final finish after my 12k. I'm not sure about all I've read about heating up the blade amongst other things. My experience shows using leather only works best for my face. Though many others use different progressions and claim to have great shaves. I'm all for experimentation and finding that awesome edge that agrees with skin and beard. I prefer wiping my blade with tp as opposed to using fabric to clean it, so I just skip it and go right to my latigo.

After I shave I clean my razor under warm water then dry it off completely. I then strop it for about 10 strokes either on the softer linen strop or the nylon webbing strop that is sewn into my leather strop backing I bought at SRD < which BTW is a great strop! Then I strop on the leather for a total of 50 strokes.

I then wipe the blade to clear any microscopic leather lint as I say then use a camellia oil or I use Ballistol to lightly apply to the razor to protect it since it is carbon steel. I do this every shave. It is a ritual and a decompression for me to release stress of life!!!

Like I stated...........that rough side may not be intended for use and I highly doubt it is. But then again, I guess you can even try and sharpen a razor on a concrete block if one wishes. I would check with the seller to see if it was intended as a dual sided purpose strop. Like one poster stated............never go from smooth to rough......it is like honing to go from lower grit to high grit as a progression.

Originally Posted by charliechevy

Again...I didn't recognize a smoother side initially, but as we all begin I'm learning as we go. Heck of a shave afterwards....thanks for the comments all!

Charlie

I am a newbie in regards to str8 shaving too but I have been to a few local meets and listen intently and have watched some of the most seasoned guys at this touch up and reset a bevel and retained what I saw. I am getting better at this but still have a long ways to go and will never be a Lynn Abrams! He can put a edge to a razor that is insane.

So you are not doing anything that anyone else has not done or worse. Just never sharpen a razor on a concrete block like I lightly jested about in my above post....it was meant to be a funny.

I have never seen that make of strop before, but it looks like the black side is the grain of the leather (skin side of the hide,) and the brown side is the flesh side, but it looks like the flesh side has been dyed or treated with something. This is common in leather to smooth out the back of the hide. Flesh side of the leather can certainly be used to strop, but I would mainly focus on the grain side. Again, your face will tell you what works best.