So, I figured that I have enough time stropping accumulated that I could start trying to help others... I'm just going to punch out a list of advice that I wish I had had the day I started... As some of you know, I have too many strops, and it's still growing collection... I also have experience with Lynn's strop closet, which makes me look like a minimalist, so I figured, why not try to help a little. Here goes
1. People say a taut strop is good. For a beginner this is true, however, there are ways to modify this, once you get experience, experiment with this. But, there is almost NEVER a situation where ample sag is good. Better to be too tight than too weak.
2. Following on that, There may not be a "too taut" for the strop, but there damn sure is for your arm... You don't need to wrench it out. If the strop is taut, that's fine, you don't need to strain and pull it flat as a board
3. You really only need one strop. Be it an Illinois Steerhide, a Filly, Tony Miller's latigo, SRD's latigo... You shouldn't ever need more than a single reliable leather and fabric.
4. That being said, experimenting with different strop combination and rotations... That's fun!
5. Be gentle with that Neatsfoot!!! If you drown the strop, it will be an angry strop. Try hand rubbing for a few weeks and frequent use.. if that doesn't improve the draw try lathering on top of the strop. Let that dry overnight, brush it off, and then hand rub it... If there's STILL not enough draw, a tiny dab of neatsfoot is all it takes.
6. Saddle Soap is good for cleaning a vintage strop, but if it's just a little road wear, so to speak, all you need is lather. Lather is great for conditioning a strop, makes it supple, clean, and luxurious.
7. Never underestimate the power of your palm. That may sound bad, but really, 30 seconds of palm rubbing on a strop to warm it up and lay in the palm oil makes a very surprising difference right before you strop
8. I, personally, like a tiny amount of sag/deflection in my strops, A VERY SMALL AMOUNT. and this takes practice, you're better off, if new, starting with a taut, straight strop... however, experimentation is fun.
9. Following that, I also like a minuscule amount of pressure.. The whole "weight of the blade only, light as a feather" thing didn't quite do it for me... YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY.
10. If you are new and want a cheap strop, RupRazor's filly is great. If you are new and want a supreme quality strop, and a practice strop that's forgiving, hit TheWellShavedGentleman.com and get a Latigo artisan strop WITH THE STARTER STROP. Really, for 8 dollars, the TM Starter strop is an amazing value, and will save a ton of nicks on your new, quality strop. If you want a strop that is expensive but worth every penny and will NEVER let you down (and you are confident in your stropping) SRD's Premium IV (Bridle) is my favorite strop.
11. If you only want one strop, I would recommend against horsehide or other low draw strops as your only strop.. They're great for finishing, but not quite up to snuff for every day stropping.
12. Chromium Oxide and Diamond spray. .5 micron is the general standard... If you want to use CrOx, I've had great results using it on cottons, and AMAZING results on the SRD Webbed fabric. As for the Diamond spray, it can be used on multiple surfaces, but, in my opinion, nothing is better for it than Wool Felt (Available from TM, SRD, and some other places).
13. Using CrOx: I personally like my CrOx strop heavily loaded, BUT, no matter how heavy you load it, USE FEW STROKES. Better to under do it, then strop again, than to overdo it and have to go back to stones. Do 10 laps, check the edge, do 10 more laps if necessary... If 30 laps doesn't do the trick, it needs to be re-honed
14. Using Diamond Spray: Ya don't need to soak the strop, just an even, uniform spritz, Up, then back down, then back up. Let that sit over night, and it's good to go. I prefer using CrOx between honings, as it is more face friendly -to me- and I like diamond spray after honing for it's consistent results
15. To clarify #14, if the razor was honed a while ago and is starting to tug, I usually do 15 laps on Crox... and that happens 2 or 3 times before it needs rehoning... when it needs rehoning, I do 10 laps on a Barber hone, 10 on Diamond sprayed felt (.5 micron) and then my usually linen/leather rotations
16. When you begin, I know it's tempting to strop on a belt, or some scrap leather... I mean, how big of a difference can it be? Well, it's a HUGE difference... Strops are made for razors, belts are made for wear and tear, and they will tear up your razor and kill the edge... Even if it's a cheap Filly, always get a strop, for stropping... Don't go for a belt. Just don't.
17. everyone nicks it sooner or later. Most really nice strops (Tony Miller, SRD, VintageBlades, etc) Are now making Modular Strops, so, if you cut it, you can just buy a replacement leather strip, unscrew the one you nicked, screw in the new one, and voila. Good to go.
18. If you don't want to buy replacement leather, or don't have a modular strop, take a very fine knife, or some flush cutters, or something of the sort, and cut the nick out (if it's like a flap hanging off the edge.) or, if it's big enough, superglue it back down, but make sure that any superglue that gets pushed out from the pressure, once it's dried, is cleaned of... I recommend a pumice stone for sanding strops.. You could also get really high grit sand paper (2000) and clean up the edge of a strop... Just make sure there's no glue residue on the strop... I usually just cut the nick out to be safe...
19. This one goes without saying, but is worth saying. Keep an eye on that blade. It's really easy to slip up and flip it on the blade rather than the spine, or to lift the spine -causing a rolled edge-. I've even stropped like it was a hone (leading with the blade) when I lost focus. Just keep your head in the game when you strop (and any time you have the razor in your hand :p)
20. Make sure your strop is SECURE. My house has doorknobs that aren't the orb you twist, but are longer, horizontal handles... They're great for looping a strop ring over and stropping on... However, if you so something like this, make sure the door is locked... I nearly gutted a strop yesterday because I forgot to lock the door.. While stropping, the handle turned from the vibration of the strop, and everything slid and fell off..
21. Hell, just lock the door in general. You have an expensive piece of leather, an expensive hunk of steel and it's SHARP. You don't want someone opening the door on you.
22. It's different for everyone, but it's important to find the right stropping height, speed, grip, direction, etc... Once you find your zone, everything just flows.
23. You can't overstrop an edge IF your technique is correct. However, if you have one element, just one, wrong, more is definitely worse. I strop in my free time/while working on school work, so I've gotten the method down pat... It doesn't really make the edges any better to keep doing it, but it makes for better muscle memory (always important) and it helps break the strops in, even though it doesn't help (or hurt) the razor. The same goes for hand rubbing... Just lay it in front of your computer and rub it while you read/work. It really does help the break in time quite a lot.
24. If you have any questions, ask. This is an area I'm actually good at -finally-
I'm aware of all the innuendos from hand rubbing, and other such terms... Please forgive those :p
If I've left anything out, feel free to contribute, or if anything I've written was in error, PLEASE let me know. And if you have questions, I'm stuck in Western Civ right now, so, PLEASE, make this class more interesting for me! :) Thanks.
Good Luck, Happy stropping!
Cheers,
Jeremy
