Thread: newspaper stopping A++

i took the advise of trying some stropping on newspaper. last nite the 6/8 wacker 1/4 hollow was stropped 100 newspaper and when i started to strop it on the leather it was singing more than it ever had before. after 100 laps on the leather it was on to the shave test. OMG this razor has never been so smooth and so sharp at the same time, it sounded like i was shaving with a full hollow,BBS. thanks for the tips!! give it a try.

Glad to hear it worked for you... thanks for keeping us posted

Yep! Stropping on newspaper has helped my razors a lot, shaves have been smoother and closer with less irritation.

Good job! I keep an old newspaper in my kit just for that reason.

Pelkey

Ok, I have never heard of this. Why is it good to strop on newspaper? Won't the ink get on the blade?

The ink's never been a problem for me (you're working dry of course). The newsprint has a very fine texture to it, much the same as stropping on a red jeweler's rouge strop. It has a polishing effect which refines the edge by removing any remaining wire left from honing.

Pelkey

Newspaper has held a place in my honing regimen for a long time now. I love it. You can't overhone on it. Here is my process that I've used many times:

I look for either the comics section or the movie section, something with a lot of ink (no it doesn't get on the razor just as it doesn't get on glass if you polish a mirror or window with newspaper).

I use two sheets ("two-ply") and select a flat surface to tape it down to. Usually for me, it's my Chinese 12k stone. I wrap the newspaper sheets very tightly around the stone's top and then the sides taping each edge of the paper to the bottom of the stone. Sometimes you have to re-stretch before you tape down to make sure there are no wrinkles on the surface. For me, two sheets gives just the right amount of cushion. I do not use more than two sheets because too many sheets, I've found can cause edge rounding.

Then, it's stropping time (edge trailing). 50 passes are good to start. I do this after polishing on my last hone/stone. Then it's test shave. If I feel I want to try for an improvement, I go back to the newspaper and go 100 passes. After newspaper I always strop on plain leather before a shave.

I once took a razor and stropped on newspaper for 100 passes then shaved. I shaved with the same razor each morning, and each night I stropped another 100 passes. At the end of the week, 700 passes overall on newspaper on one razor. No negative effects. Neither, however, did the razor get "7 times sharper" Each shave was super from the first day to the last.

***Make sure the flat surface is TOTALLY clean. Even the smallest grit, speck, etc will be felt when stropping on the newspaper. Not good.

Chris L

So are you using newspaper instead of a leather strop? Or as a post honing tool prior to a normal strop?

Personally, I use newspaper as the last honing step prior to the pre-shave strop on leather.

Some do go from newspaper straight to a shave though. Some people use newspaper more like an actual strop in that they fold sections of newspaper into essentially a paddle strop which is not taped down to anything, the newspaper is the entire mechanism. I've heard of others hanging a folded newspaper strop from a doorknob or hook and using it as a hanging strop.

So many variations.

Chris L

That's what I love about shaving with a str8; so many variations for lathering, sharpening, stropping, whatever works best for you. With a little imagination there is a world of experimenting to explore.......what a journey!