3" vs. 2"

well being new to this and trying to save a buck where i could i went with a 2" .. well it never felt right holding it and i noticed i kept finding myself almost twisting the strop ( slightly ) and didnt feel i had it down just right ..well i had a few nicks in it from my first stropping attempt ( dont ask cause how i did it is to embarrassing) and was gonna go the cheap route again and get a replacement piece ... then i thought !! why not just buy a 3" and get it over with ?? well i did today at Imperial Shave and i wanna say as a beginner my opinion to another beginner is just get the 3" from the start !!! it felt awesome in my hands and during my stropping !!! and you know my effectiveness of my stropping made a big difference on my razors as well .! i dont know if it is a mental thing or less of an x stroke made me more efficient or what but my opinion ( even though not of experienced knowledge ) from being the new guy and finding this out is ....... spend the few extra bucks and get the bigger of the two ...

Its cool you found the right glove that fit your hand so to speak. When I started I went in the opposite direction. I started with a 3" and I found out after a while that it just didn't feel right to me. So I went down to a 2" and what do you know the shoe fit Cinderella. I like to keep it around 2" - 2-1/2" But then theres my baby 1-3/4" Dovo Russian I like to use with my smiling razors.
Oh well too each his own
Good luck to you.
Darl (Tarkus)

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Originally Posted by Tarkus

Its cool you found the right glove that fit your hand so to speak. When I started I went in the opposite direction. I started with a 3" and I found out after a while that it just didn't feel right to me. So I went down to a 2" and what do you know the shoe fit Cinderella. I like to keep it around 2" - 2-1/2" But then theres my baby 1-3/4" Dovo Russian I like to use with my smiling razors.
Oh well too each his own
Good luck to you.
Darl (Tarkus)

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i actually thought about this more after the excitement level went down aand now im kinda thinking starting on a 2 maybe what has given me better technique on the 3 ..lol.. sometimes i dont have a filter and speak ( type) before thinking bout it ..lol.. either way your right !!! i found my glove , ..lol..

For a beginner's first strop I recommend going to a (horse) tack shop and have them cut you a piece of 3.5 x 28" piece of latigo or reins leather. Tell them you want a smooth leather and they'll know to give you. Then cut a handle on one end and punch a tie hole in the other. Cost: $10 and they work just great.

and yet a even better idea !!!!!!

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Originally Posted by gooser

and yet a even better idea !!!!!!

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Well it's an idea :). Probably a great one lol.

Man I struggled and fought myself after I sliced up my first. She was a 2"er. Got another 2" and them uh... maybe another (but I ain't confirming ;)). Then I got a 3" for back up. But that was after I got a dedicated paste strop... BAH, GET EM ALL!! LOL. Strops hanging in the den are awesome! I want another even :).

For me, my Cinderella is the exact opposite of the one size fits all theory lol. I am an all sizes fit me just fine :). But i have to admit. When I got my first 3 inch it was love. It really is seemingly that much easier to use. Or so I felt anyway.

Now I flip from one to the other with hardly a thought! I don't know what I would do if I went back to my "original" plan of only having one of everything.

ok im gonna spill how i cut my first 1 ....................uuummmm iii , uuummmm faced the blade the wrong way ...:banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghe ad::banghead:

but i sanded it down and havent cut it since !!!..lol... lesson learned real quick !!!!!!!!

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Originally Posted by gooser

ok im gonna spill how i cut my first 1 ....................uuummmm iii , uuummmm faced the blade the wrong way ...:banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghe ad::banghead:

but i sanded it down and havent cut it since !!!..lol... lesson learned real quick !!!!!!!!

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Rookie lol!! I started thinking of a woman mid-stoke and went right through the thing lol!!

Ok - I don't know what I was thinking about, but all i remember is that it took no time at all, there was all but no tug, and balm! Right through the thing.

Scared the... out of me!

I like a 3" to eliminate the 'x' stroke, but I don't like how the linen side curls. I guess I could use the 2" linen, and the 3" leather. :)

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Originally Posted by earcutter

Rookie lol!! I started thinking of a woman mid-stoke and went right through the thing lol!!

Ok - I don't know what I was thinking about, but all i remember is that it took no time at all, there was all but no tug, and balm! Right through the thing.

Scared the... out of me!

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hey it only took one pass to realise though ..lol.. got lucky though , little nicks only on the edges ...

Started with a 3 inch bridle leather and hard felt strop and nicked it up a bit too at the start. Found some strop repair advice here, fixed the nicks and am still using it. I see no reason for me to change sizes now or even get another strop. Got lucky straight outta the chute with my choice. Obviously I would go that way again if starting over.

Bob

Started with 3" strops, then didn't like that if they sort of form to a razor, they kind of like to have that razor's shape. Made a 3" strop out of horse butt not long after and eventually cut it to width to be a 2" strop. I am much more pleased with it, anyway.

What I gather with my edges is that the place that gets the most wear is right in the middle of the razor, so even if I didn't concentrate on working the whole edge on a 2" strop, I doubt it would matter.

You can see what I mean by that if you take a razor you've shaved with for two weeks (one that had been nicely honed) and do the HHT on the edge, it *should* do better at the ends than it does in the middle since the ends are basically getting stropped every day without taking much wear.