Thread: Damaged new strop?

My wife bought me a Dovo Ebon wood razor and a Mountain Strop for an early fathers day gift..I shaved once and it pulled a little( more than I thought it would) My next time to use it I stropped it and while I was at the top of the strop I must have started my down stroke early and cut a slice out of the upper left had side. when I strop now I can sort feel it through the blade. Is this ok. I am new to using a quality straight, I have been using a Magic from Sally Beauty Supply. I am new to stropping. I have used my razor 3 time and it is considerably less sharp. When I strop on the canvas side it seems to feel right, but when I do it on the leather side it just does not feel right.. Should I send it of to get it re-honed, is there a hone that you all could recommend that would not break the bank so I could do it my self. Any help would be appreciated.

Can you avoid the cut area when you strop?

Something to think about is your angle. Lot's of guys mistake poor shaving angle for a dull blade...but to answer your question....

An affordable hone is the Chinese 12k
sold here: Natural Polishing Water Stone - Woodcraft.com

It's a slow cutter, but effective. Normally, 100 strokes is needed. 50 with a slurry stone.
This is probably the most affordable hone I know of....

It is pretty hard to avoid. The strop is only a 2 or three inch one. When I strop it is leaves very light scratch lines in the strop. I would think that it would not do that. Do strops need to be broken in? I will try to post some pics tomorrow.

Being inexperienced at stropping, honing probably is not the ideal thing to add to the mix. Does the edge of the blade come across the cut area ? I Have scratched up some of my working strops ( I have more than one) and I use them with no problems. Some of them have nicks. If they were flaps I glued them with contact cement and went over that with light 1k sandpaper. Good as new .... except to look at.... If you can't get it on the strop you're better off sending it to a known honemeister on SRP. Not your local barber of cutlery shop. Get a back up razor and if you want to practice until you can do it yourself a Norton 4/8 combo. It ain't rocket science but it ain't fallin' off a log either.

Do you know the name and number of a good honemeister. I actually just shaved with it. I used a piece of porcelain thats is in a 1000 watt high pressure sodium lamp then I stropped it. It seemed to work a little, I only made a few passes on the porcelain. Is this material ok to use a hone per say. It puts a incredible edge on my pockets knifes.

check this link and make your choose. gl
Member Services - Straight Razor Place Classifieds

Originally Posted by overlandequip

Do you know the name and number of a good honemeister. I actually just shaved with it. I used a piece of porcelain thats is in a 1000 watt high pressure sodium lamp then I stropped it. It seemed to work a little, I only made a few passes on the porcelain. Is this material ok to use a hone per say. It puts a incredible edge on my pockets knifes.

I couldn't say if that is an okay material to use. I've never heard of anyone honing on porcelain. Best to send it to a honemeister and see how much better it will be. We usually use water stones to hone our razors. In the beginner's guide there is a section that describes the hones that are most often used . See the link in my sig below for the Wiki and then look for "What hone do I need."

Originally Posted by overlandequip

Do you know the name and number of a good honemeister. I actually just shaved with it. I used a piece of porcelain thats is in a 1000 watt high pressure sodium lamp then I stropped it. It seemed to work a little, I only made a few passes on the porcelain. Is this material ok to use a hone per say. It puts a incredible edge on my pockets knifes.

Ouch, In an emergency porcelain might work....
Using the unglazed rim on the bottom of a porcelain dish
is a classic cooks trick for sharpening.. The trick
has spawned an industry -- HOWEVER, It is not advised for
razors as it is too easy to cause ruts and other
hard to remove problems...

Better to start with a newspaper or cardboard strop.
Newspaper/ paper is more abrasive than most folk expect.