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Hello
I just received my new strop today and am very excited to give it a try. Since I am quite new to this hobby, I would appreciate any tips or advice on the use of it. I have damaged my current strop with some knicks along the right side and really hope that I will not do the same with the Kanayama.
Thanks in advance.
Steve
Go slow! No hurry! After a while you will speed up but the time you save is minimal. Congrads on a fine strop. I too habe the 70k.
I know you just got the Kanayama and are chomping at the bit to use it, but I would put it away for a little while. I also know that this will be very hard to do. Keep learning on the strop you already have and make your few mistakes now. The last thing that you want to do is it make them on that beautiful new Kanayama. Develop your feel and become super comfortable at stropping first.
You will know when it's time.
Pete <:-}
+++1 You will avoid a lot of tears that way.Quote:
Originally Posted by petercp4e
Bob
I would follow Pete’s advice, it would be a terrible shame to cut a Kanayama 70000. I have an older 50k and I would be heartbroken t cut it or my Westholme Cordovan.Quote:
Originally Posted by petercp4e
Thanks for the responses. I gave it a few laps today to try it. It’s going to be a killer not using it. I don’t know if can do that.....but I’ll give it my best shot.
Gasman: do you use the suede strop? If when?
Steve
I do use the suede. Just like you would use linen. It doesnt scrub the bevel like linen does but it drys the bevel after a shave ery well. That about the only time i use it. Its soft but strong. Not like the felt strop i have from srd.
I see. Thanks for the advice. I’ll try it in the same manner.
I had the suede on some other Kanayama strops I have owned and honestly saw no improvement using it with the leather to get a keener edge, it does do an excellent job drying the blade or removing oxidation prior to going to the leather.
Steve, Another thing you might try is to take the handle off of your current strop and get used to handling a strop with a square end and no handles. It's a little different feeling and doing this will help with a smooth transition to the Kanayama.
Pete <:-}
Pete the handle on my older strop is a steel ring and I believe it is riveted on. I like your idea though. So far I have just done some SLOW laps on it. I’ll try some more when it is time to shave in a couple of days.
Ok, plan B. See if you can let the ring hang loose and hold the strop without it.
A lot of strops have got a steel ring.
Pete <:-}
Thanks Pete, I’ll give it a go.
love love LOVE my 70k. but hate the end. can never get a good tight grip for long. so i bought a single D-ring end from well shaved gent (thank you tony) and installed in 2-minutes. best thing i never did.
I wonder , do you have arthritis? I could see that being an issue without a handle or d ring. I find it more comfortable without. But we are all different, I have noticed that most all vintage don't have handles though. I find out t better to hold both linen and leather together.
As to the sued, it doesn't do anything different than any over linen, but it sure does dry your edge after the shave well. Tc
I find the handles easier to hold but, even a barber end isnt hard to deal with. Its not like you got to pull it with 50lbs of tension. Snug or taught i think is the word. Now if i knew how to spell.
Saw this post and what a coincidence. I just opened this box this morning. Came here to inquire as to the best way to hold the strop. I have been stropping since joining this site, and yes, I have nicks to prove it! But I can strop cleanly when my head is in the game....which is mostly the case.
Anyway, I want the strop to be flat as I hone and I would think that an even grip will work and that it should be fairly intuitive; the strop is pretty thick after all. BUT, you experienced folk always offer good advice and I'm eager to accept. Thanks and best to all.
Good morning. All my strops were ordered with a barber end. My grip on any of them is as follows:
Attachment 284676
Attachment 284677
I find that my grip allows for strop tension to be exactly what I want for any strop and razor combination.
As an old dog, I'm different. I like learning new tricks. Never thought of holding a barber's strop in that way.
I think that way of holding the strop is brilliant. My old barber strop has an imprint on the end so you can’t strop down there anyway and holding it from the back is putting a flex in the leather from the shape of my grip.
I disagree about holding the leather and suede together. Holding only the leather gives you more control over the tension in the strop.
Tension isn't in wether you hold both or not, the tension comes from experience. The way I strop it just keeps the second piece from flopping around, at my stage of this I go pretty fast, but I use single strops too, no difference in my tension. TC
Great tip on folding over the edge. I’ll use that for sure.
I pinch the strop between fingers in the same manner shown by lz6, but I don't fold the end over. I can put enough tautness on the strop without it.
Send it to me for safekeeping...
A old barber friend takes exception to the "slapping" of a razor against a strop like you see a lot of barbers doing. He told me to caress the strop with a razor. Long, slow, light laps will produce a better result. He said you should feel the blade gliding along the leather. I find he is right on. Really polishes the edge.
I have to agree with you and your barber friend. After experimenting with different techniques and number of laps, I find that the lightest, smoothest lap works best. I stop at 10 laps. I tried 10 laps after watching a video by Howard Schecter. It seems to work well for me and I find that there is very little chance of knicking the strop when using light pressure. I also tried using light pressure when honing with CrOX on balsa wood. That really took my edge to the next level of sharpness.
Steve
