Thread: This time my strops worked

I was never a fan of strops and pastes because they never really gave me better results compared with my stones. I always had a smoother edge out of my finishing stones than of the paste. So, I rarely used strop and paste.

But this particular razor is an exception. I was never able to get a decent shave with this razor even if I tried to hone it many times. Maybe it was the excessive hone wear of the spine that was there when I bought it and I never managed to fix it with my hones, maybe it is the quality of the steel, maybe something else.

The last time I used it, I stopped shaving with it, because it was horrible on my skin and I changed it with another razor.
Then I thought to give my strops a try. Ten minutes stropping on the green paste and then on the leather.
Today I tried it and for the first time it gave me a decent shave. Not my best, but decent.

This time, the strops did a better job than the hones. Maybe, because when honing, the edge is very much dependent on the spine. Problematic spine will give you problematic edge. This maybe is not the case with the strops. Maybe the strop can treat the edge even it the spine is bad. I am not sure. Just wanted to share.

Yes, I have learned to try a CroOx pasted strop on those rough ones which I cannot get smooth on the hones.
It can do wonders at times. I suppose the steel has an issue. Does not seem to take much.

Glad you posted this. I have a victim in mind.......

Thank you for sharing sharptonn. It's nice to see another member with a similar experience on this.

I wonder if hemp or flax might help with that one since stropping improved it. Might be worth a try.

Good idea Paul. But all my strops are leather. If I find some linen I will try it. Thank you.

My CroOx-pasted strop is Balsa!

Originally Posted by Slur

I was never a fan of strops and pastes because they never really gave me better results compared with my stones. I always had a smoother edge out of my finishing stones than of the paste. So, I rarely used strop and paste.

But this particular razor is an exception. I was never able to get a decent shave with this razor even if I tried to hone it many times. Maybe it was the excessive hone wear of the spine that was there when I bought it and I never managed to fix it with my hones, maybe it is the quality of the steel, maybe something else.

The last time I used it, I stopped shaving with it, because it was horrible on my skin and I changed it with another razor.
Then I thought to give my strops a try. Ten minutes stropping on the green paste and then on the leather.
Today I tried it and for the first time it gave me a decent shave. Not my best, but decent.

This time, the strops did a better job than the hones. Maybe, because when honing, the edge is very much dependent on the spine. Problematic spine will give you problematic edge. This maybe is not the case with the strops. Maybe the strop can treat the edge even it the spine is bad. I am not sure. Just wanted to share.

Some steel is tempermental and will only hone well on particular mediums.
If you have a variety of hones I would only go to about 8k then switch to a natural. Try Coticle from that. If it doesn't work try a slate type Escher or Welsh, Vermont, try Jnat, Arkansas etc. It will work well with one of them guranateed. It is just "fussy" steel.
For me, virtually ALL razors have a stone that will give them a fantastic edge. You just need to figure out which one.
I have two (out of many) that will take a great edge on anything. I use those for testing stones.
If you try to test a stone with a razor that is even a little particular you are not getting a true read of what the stone is capable of unless of course it just happaned to like that stone.
I'm sure this is why so many people try a stone and have no love for it because the razor they used doesn't like it.
Just my opinion.