Thread: SRD Linen options

Wow... and here I was going to get the Herringbone cotton on my Premium I to compliment my Bridle and Nylon

I knew the stuff works, but that's just a resounding, standing ovation. I, too, have great results from it!

Also, for those of you asking about pasting... If you want to paste SRD Nylon, the SRD Chromium Oxide crayon works PHENOMENALLY! Also, if you want to paste their wool felt, go with the diamond spray. Neither will let you down if you just put it on the right material

Cheers,
Jeremy

Originally Posted by JohnG10:

Does the nylon tend to cause chipping on the edge easier due to it's deeper texture ?
Does the unpasted nylon tend to "refresh" the edge any less well given it's slicker nature ?

Originally Posted by Lynn

What in the world????????????????

The poly webbing actually produces very good results. What are you talking about regarding chipping due to texture??? Refresh an edge less from slicker nature????

Originally Posted by richmondesi

The poly webbing is great... Do you think Robin, and I would recommend it if it wasn't? Better yet, do you think Lynn and Don would sell it if it wasn't? You don't build good reputations by doing shoddy work and selling counter productive products while attaching your name to it...

Sorry my post caused confusion. I only had 5 minutes to check for answers and had some specific questions... Here's more details about what I was talking about in my post above.

Background: I've been SR shaving approx 5-6 weeks. I have a SRD latigo & nylon strop and think it's a good product. But, I'm having refresh to refresh the edge of my Dovo special about every 7-10 days on a .5 CrOx pasted paddle strop - but I have a coarse beard, and beginner shaving technique. I'm sure the razor was fine initially, (I purchased it from SRD), and I'm pretty sure my stropping technique is OK and the sound from the pressure matches the sound on ShaveZombie's Latigo stropping video on the SRP Wiki (Razor stropping - Straight Razor Place Wiki). I strop 15-20 strokes on the leather after shaving, plus 15-20 strokes on the nylon, then 60 on the latigo before shaving and store the razor out of the bathroom and don't have any rust or water spots.

So I was thinking that maybe part of the edge degredation is due to "microchipping" at the edge (ie: it becomes "toothier" feeling when shaving) - IF I'm using too much pressure when stropping. ie: Maybe the finer texture of the cotton linen would compensate for one possible beginner mistake I may be making. (ps: I've tried using less pressure, and the edge actually seemed less sharp. Maybe I needed more reps. I used 60 for both pressure levels). This possibility was what generated Question 1 in my post above.

Alternatively, maybe I have the opposite beginner problem and am stropping with too little pressure. If this was the case, then I was thinking that maybe cotton linen would freshen the edge a little better since it isn't as slick as the nylon. This possibility was what generated Question 2 in my post above.

Also, I want to appologize if my too short questions caused anyone to think that anything I purchased from SRD was not first rate, or that I doubted Robin or Paul's advise. On the contrary, everything I've purchased from SRD has been great and exceeded my expectations so much that I'm planning on purchasing another razor and some hones. Also, if I didn't value the opinions of the group here, I wouldn't have bothered asking. In particular, it's refreshing to see so many senior members / mentors providing their time to answer crazy questions from the newbies like me, and their answers (many of them from Lynn, Robin and Paul) have helped me come up the learning curve a lot faster than I would have otherwise - and in several instances solved some problem that would have otherwise caused me to conclude that SR shaving was not for me. Now that I've been SR shaving for about 5-6 weeks, I'm glad I stuck with it and can see that the close / comfortable / long lasting aspects people have been talking about were not just hype. (I'm not nearly there, but can see the light at the end of the tunnel now).

Anyway - back to my original question: Does anyone think that using a cotton linen strop rather than the nylon strop would help reduce the frequency I need to refresh the edge of the SR on a pasted strop ?

Thanks.

John

No offense taken. I think the poly does as good a job or better than the cotton component. Therefore my opinion is that it would actually be the same or reduce the frequency of required touchups.

John, I've gotten real good results with the SRD premium 1 and the webbed fabric with no paste or anything and certainly no micro chipping. Do you have magnification to see micro chipping or do you see it with the naked eye ? OTOH, does it just feel like it might have micro chipping ? I wasn't able to figure that out from your description.

I haven't put the edge under a microscope, but there's no micro-chipping visible to the naked eye. It was just a possible reason why the edge could need freshening every 7-10 shaves (it still shaves, but not as nicely - ie: I need to be careful to avoid a irritation in some places). The hypothesis was based on the same logic that an knife or wood working tool sharpend on a coarse stone doesn't hold it's edge as long as a polished edge. The poly looked coarser to me due to it's deep texture, so I was wondering if the cotton linen would work better (originally).

It seems like most people agree that the poly works better than the cotton. I had wondered if the linen kept the blade sharp a little better - but wore out a lot faster (etc). It looks like the answer is - nope the poly also keeps the razor sharp better too.

Might be a shaving technique issue too. Many times with irritation that is what it is. Try working on blade angle, less pressure and good lathering and see if that doesn't improve your results. Nothing at all wrong with the webbed fabric IME.

I'm sure my technique needs a lot of work, but it seems like the amount duller the razor get's after 7-10 shaves is just enough to make a difference with my newbie level of shaving skill.

For 3-5 shaves I can use an angle 1 spine width away from my face and no, pressure and get close shaves. By day 5-7, I need to use a more upright angle to get similar hair cutting performance (by day 7 the angle is around 45 degrees). By day 7-12, I also need to add a tiny bit of pressure, or make 5-7 passes in some areas and 3 passes everywhere.

My first assumption was that I was somehow dulling the razor while stropping even though I wasn't using any pressure. So I re-read the wiki and tried a little more stropping pressure (which improved the edge a little) and faster strokes - and the sound now seems to match the videos on the Wiki.

Freshening up the edge on a pasted strop every 7-10 shaves is not hard to do, but it does seem to indicate something is wrong...

Rather than try to correct the razor with the paste/strop why not send it to Lynn and have it touched up. When you get it back you may find you've improved your technique with shaving , stopping and prep to a point where it won't go south on you.

The synthetic webbing has not been my go too I prefer linen/cotton. I own many strops and my synthetic is collecting dust, in fact I have considered selling it. Perhaps I will use it exclusivly for one month and if I still feel the same it's going to the classifieds.

Originally Posted by Lynn

What in the world????????????????

The poly webbing actually produces very good results. What are you talking about regarding chipping due to texture??? Refresh an edge less from slicker nature????

Lynn

April Fools I guess? I hope!!