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If this has been asked and answered I apologise I have been searching for hours. I have a strop discontinued but similar to thishttp://stropman.com/4STROKE-Leather-Strop-4STROKE.htm two sides rough side up one s moth side one that holds sandpaper. I have the white, green, and black rouges. Is this suitable for a straight razor?
Leather Strop 4STROKE 2.5"x 2.5"x 9"
Doesn't look razor-grade to me, more likely suited for knives and tools as stated in the description.
The nap is not as snag carpet as it looks in the photo. The smooth side looks like this BIG BOY Leather Strop with the white rouge.
My opinion remains the same.
All sides look like velour or the back not the smooth side of the leather they should be for razors
I agree these look more knife suited rather than for razors
Looks like it's made to hold 4 different pastes. I am not a paste guy but if somebody tapped Euclid440 on the shoulder I bet he would know. I am guessing it would work fine.
I bet ya 10 bucks he has one :<0)
Yea, that is a tool strop, I do have one similar for carving tools that I keep in my tool bag, with Chrome Oxide, Ferrous Oxide and 1.0 Diamond Paste. The forth strop is plain leather.
The problem with using this kind of strop for razors is keeping it free of contamination. You set it down and the bottom strop will pick up anything on the counter, and you can never get it all off the strop. All that grit is abrasive and will scratch a bevel. While it may not be a big deal for a carving tool or plane blade, small chips on razors make skin bleed.
The finer the grit, the more critical contamination becomes.
The second warning sign is the term Red, Green, White & Black Compounds, these are polishing compounds of unknown grit size and unknown grit. The green often contains little or no Chromium Oxide, again fine for tools and some knives, not for razors.
Buy razor quality Chrome Oxide from known providers. It is not that expensive.
Thank you all for the advice. I do use this for knives and I have shaved part of my face with a kitchen knife with very little irritation. Sharpening itself has become a hobby researching cubic boron nitrate is what lead me look at straight razors. Unless I take up wood carving I am running out of things to sharpen. I understand why I should use a dedicated strop for shaving I guess my last question on the matter is a wood backed fine leather a go or a no go? I prefer to stay with a known technique if I can but, if there is a reason for a more slack strop and we still sharpen a razor that way because it's the best way to do it I am not going to be the advice seeking rube who asks the old masters disregard advice only to waste my time effort money and energy. Thank you all again.
Either one will work on a razor, most use hanging strops probably mostly for storage and again a paddle can easily become contaminated by laying it down.
For a new stropper a homemade smooth leather strop works just fine. Stropping doe take some time to refine the skill to the point you are refining the edge without damaging the strop. Most damage the edge by lifting the spine from the strop and then the razor must be re honed.
Getting a razor sharp is the easy part, making it comfortable to shave with daily can be a bit more changeling.
What grits are you using to hone and are you honing razors or just knives?
Reading the first 3 threads in the Honing Forum you will pick up a lot of good information on honing a razor.
I can not find any grit size listed, in most of the sharpening stone world grit size is relative I thought perhaps the same was true of rouges. I get a nice mirror edge and can sometimes treetop a standing hair. I recently bought an edgepro clone though I haven't bought good stones strops emulsions sprays etc. yet.
I missed part of your question I sharpen knives on that strop. Now that I have read and watched some videos I have a different understanding of stropping straight razor, its more like a smooth steel on a German knife than polishing the edge on a Japanese knife.
Most all of those “colored” compounds are various abrasive compound designed for polishing. They are aggressive and work well for polishing metal and on tools and knives. But are too aggressive for razors that are much thinner and will be used for shaving.
On razors they will micro chip the edge and that will make for an uncomfortable shave. For razors we prefer to use compounds that are pure and of a known grit.
Is it the size of the grit or what it is made of? I see cubic boron, chromium oxide and diamond as stropping compounds is there a preference? I have been shaving more than half my life who knew there was so much more to learn?
Both, and more importantly the result you are trying to achieve.
For example .50 Chromium Oxide, Diamond and CBN will all produce very different results of all the same grit size, mostly because of the grit shape. Additionally the stropping medium will also affect performance.
Diamond will cut deep and on a razor can make the edge harsh, on a knife or tool that may be a good thing. Chrome Oxide will smooth a Diamond edge and make it more comfortable. CBN can do both, depending on the substrate.
For razors, pasting is done mostly to create smoothness, most begin with Chromium Oxide, but Razor Quality Chrome Oxide is different from buffing “Green” polishing compounds, which often contain little or no Chrome Oxide.
Thank you for all your help.
Use balsa wood. it's perfect for chrome ox and sprays. mount it to something flat and have at it. No need to guess if some other product is useful when you can get some balsa wood and be set.