Basic Stropping query

Hi Guys,

What should each side of the strop consist of. I have seen some stuff with regards to a linen or fabric underside? My strop is basically smooth leather on one side and rough leather on the under side.

I am stropping it 25 odd times on the rough and 50 odd on the smooth before and after my shave.

I try and apply as little pressure as possible ( I do apply pressure but not too much)and I am keeping the blade flat against the strop. Should the blade be flat or at an angle?

Am I doing it correctly?

Thanks,
Luke

Lots of videos on stropping, but when someone is talking about the linen its a secondary strop added with the leather. So two pieces. As far as using both sides of a leather strop? I only used the front side. Never the back. I'm not positive but I don't think leather strops are made to be used on both sides. There are many different types of secondary strops that can be put with your leather. Cotton, Linen, Felt just for example.

What’s your edge telling you? Does how sharp it seems to be decreasing from shave to shave? My stropping is usually just 5-6 laps on linen then 100-120 on leather. I assume you are asking because it’s not giving you the desired effect. Was your razor sharp and comfortable to begin with? Stropping won’t give you a comfortable, sharp edge without first having a well honed razor.

The razor is very comfortable and shaves beautifully. It was honed and sent to me by the guy it was bought from. Just wondering as I do not want to ruin the edge prematurely and have to get it honed in the near future. I have only used it +/- 10 - 15 times.

Okay, I will stop using the rough side until I get a secondary strop.

Thank you,
Luke

Ideally you need a two part strop..Leather & Linen.. There are other options other than linen.. Personally i would not strop on the rough side of the leather but that is my preference..
I have a video might be of some use to you..
Thanks
Joseph
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3QJIQAs6Bc&t=83s

Thanks Joseph. I see you do not use any angle and keep the razor flat against the strop, and no real pressure is applied.

The smoother side of the leather is the hair side. The rougher side is the flesh side. Stropping is normally done only on the hair side.

Secondary components such as linen, felt, denim, seat belt, fire hose, etc IMHO do nothing that leather alone cannot do. Nevertheless they are popular. I suggest that if you want a secondary, make it separate from your leather strop. The reason is with a secondary attached, it is awkward to swap ends with the leather strop. I prefer my strops to be single element, with a simple D ring on each end, so that they can be end-for-ended if necessary. For instance, if you should happen to put a big nick in the right hand edge, hanging it the other way up puts the nick on the left hand side where (if the strop is wide enough) the blade will never again encounter it. Plus, simple = cheaper.

Great thank you. I will keep that in mind.

Just like honing with the spine leading, any weight should be on the spine not the edge when stropping.

The secondary strop, be it linen, cotton or whatever, helps realign the edge and the leather burnishes the edge from my understanding. There was a post on here showing that strop materials are to some extent a bit abrasive with leather being the least. There were photos to support that in the post.

You are off to a good start if you are maintaining the edge from your stropping.

Bob

If you’re 10-15 shaves in and aren’t seeing any issues it sounds to me like your stropping technique is fairly sound.

I agree you are doing well if you have stropped that much and don't notice a decrease in the keenness of your edge. I use both sides of the leather. Normally 20 on the suede side and 40-60 on the smooth side before shave then 10-20 on suede side after. Fabric is usually used to freshen up an edge but be careful with it you need.very little pressure on fabric, moreso with flax than cotton. Flax can be very aggressive.

As said before, if your technique is working for you, then there isn't any need to change it. It depends on the strop in question, but some vintage pieces were sold with backside being used to "sharpen" and the front side used to "finish." Sounds like you are using your strop in this way. If this working, and you wanted to make a mild change, you might try just stropping on the front side for a spell, and once the edge starts falling off, to "refresh" things on the backside before returning to the front side. In this way, maybe 40-60 laps on the front side for day-to-day shaving, followed by an occasional 15-20 laps on the backside when the edge starts to fall off, followed by 40-60 laps on the front side, and if this brings things back, a return to the day-to-day routine as before.