Thread: I want to know what strop will be best for what I'm using

so I currently have 2 gold dollar straights that aren't holding an edge whatsoever. I'm not sure if it's the razor Or the strop I'm using. I have a GB buckingham strop which even I can tell its cheaply made as I'm a noob lol... I am using diamond paste .25 micron .5 and 1 mircon, from what I understand once u apply the paste u are stuck with using that material micron. So I was thinking about getting the modular paddle strop with felt for my different pastes but what should be my other material I use after the pastes? Suggestions would be nice or if u have a suggestion of another strop all together they would all be appreciated! Thank you all so much...
~Fonz

Whenever the forum starts to get a little quiet & comatose ,,, just toss in a couple of Gold Dollars,,,,,,


I don't know anything about pastes , microns, mircons,,,, but I doubt its your strop that is holding the edge back.

If I were in your position, I would scrap the pastes & get a stone finisher 8K or above, then proceed from there,,, just my opinion.

Originally Posted by Hirlau

Whenever the forum starts to get a little quiet & comatose ,,, just toss in a couple of Gold Dollars,,,,,,
If I were in your position, I would scrap the pastes & get a stone finisher 8K or above, then proceed from there,,, just my opinion.

Similar response to Hirlau's, but I'd scrap the "razors" and get a real one from the classifieds or a well-known vendor that sells shave ready razors. Odds are, you're wasting your time and energy....

+1+1+1. Etc , etc. you won't get a better edge on a razor till you learn to shave and strop correctly which takes time and you won't get anywhere with a razor that ain't right. Do yourself a favor and give yourself a good chance to succeed and get a razor that's shave ready of decent quality . Tc

+1 on the above advice! Check out the classified section here for a nice round point that is shave ready.

Originally Posted by Dafonz6987

so I currently have 2 gold dollar straights that aren't holding an edge whatsoever. I'm not sure if it's the razor Or the strop I'm using. I have a GB buckingham strop which even I can tell its cheaply made as I'm a noob lol... I am using diamond paste .25 micron .5 and 1 mircon, from what I understand once u apply the paste u are stuck with using that material micron. So I was thinking about getting the modular paddle strop with felt for my different pastes but what should be my other material I use after the pastes? Suggestions would be nice or if u have a suggestion of another strop all together they would all be appreciated! Thank you all so much...
~Fonz

Do you have hones, lapping film or just diamond paste to maintain your razors.? Did they come with "Real Shave Ready Edges" the first time you used them?

“From what I understand once u apply the paste u are stuck with using that material micron”

I’m not sure, what you are asking? What are you stropping on with paste, now?

Have your Gold Dollars been honed? Most GDs have manufacturing issues that prevent the bevel from contacting the stone face fully, often this is interpreted as not holding an edge, when in fact the bevel has not been fully set. Which is why, they are not recommended for someone learning to hone, they need to be repaired before they can be honed.

Which paste you use depends on the results you are trying to achieve? Diamond is very aggressive and can lead to a chippy and uncomfortable edge, especially at 1um.

I knew since I was mentioning the gold dollars I should have made my thread into one lol... But I am purchasing a razor for SRD I made a thread about it in the razors forum... But made this thread seperate because it's about my strop... So let's pretend I didn't mention the cheap razors or the cheap strop, I just need to know about what strop I should buy for my diamond paste for those 3 microns I have and what type of material I should use after the pastes...

Kinda more of a back story About why I purchased the gold dollar razors is because they are cheap and retarded. Ive been trying my hand at freehand sharpening and it wasn't enough for me which then led me to honing razors... I have now got the honing down geared in I just need a better strop...

Originally Posted by Euclid440

I’m not sure, what you are asking? What are you stropping on with paste, now?
Which paste you use depends on the results you are trying to achieve? Diamond is very aggressive and can lead to a chippy and uncomfortable edge, especially at 1um.

I didn't actually know u could achieve a different type of edges... right now I'm using the paste on my rough side of the cheap strop I have... Which I know isn't a good strop.. I'm not looking for a type of edge that makes for an uncomfortable edge so what would you recommend and on what kind of substrate... Links would be great if u had them... Want to make my purchase soon

Originally Posted by feltspanky

Do you have hones, lapping film or just diamond paste to maintain your razors.? Did they come with "Real Shave Ready Edges" the first time you used them?

Yeah I have hones, and have posted pictures on here of my finished product and from what everyone was saying is that I honed them well... Which is why I want to buy an expensive razor now. Would lapping film be chom oxide (sorry for spelling lol) I don't have any of that just the diamond paste for now... What do you recommend?