I've been using a shavette for quite some time, but decided it was finally time to take the plunge and go to a real blade. I took a razor which I inherited ( it was sitting forgotten on a shelf in my grandparents' basement for, oh, 50 years), to be honed by a man who deals in all things bladed, new, antique and collectible, and decided I ought to get a strop while I was there, since he had them. When I got home and went to try my hand at stroping, I discovered this issue:

Name: Razor and Strop DSCN0581 crop.jpg Views: 226 Size: 17.8 KB

So, my question is, am I going to be able to use this, or are those stitches going to interfere with the heel and the toe to the point of being counter-productive?