Thread: Stropping leathers and Razor harm

Hi Sometime ago I brought from "Star Shaving Supplies" there "Big Daddy Strop" 3" Black Latigo" now i wanted to buy there " Chestnut Big Daddy3" strop" I asked about is there any difference between my one that I own now and the chestnut I am going to order I have been told the one I have at the moment is 75,000/80,000 Grit where as the chestnut one I am going to order is 90,000 ( what does That all Mean ) I have been using the above strop at the moment and it seems to do the job OK and keeps the razor sharp. There is one other thing I wish to ask on the reverse side of this strop is what they call " Wool Felt strop" I have been on a other site and someone says that this wool felt Strop from Star shaving supplies can damage the Razor if used make blunt etc and the same With the Big daddy Black Latigo strop Is this true ? and recommend I go for the English Bridle one instead. I am now totally confused what is right what is wrong in this strop leather lark and does the wool felt strop do anything??? and if so how often do you use it or what this guy on the other site ( it Starts with a B&B scaremongering many thanks for any help given

I have a Star shaving supplies 2.5" strop that I've used for over 3 yrs. now. Never noticed an issue with using wool felt. Wool felt is for cleaning the edge before going to the leather to the best of my knowledge. I take 10-12 round trips on the felt to clean any debris off the edge that I couldn't get with a towel. It's worked for me, with no problems that I'm aware of. I'm sure with this bunch someone can give you a more definitive answer.

Never heard of assigning grit numbers to leather strops but obviously somebody does. That said, I don't think it makes a hill of beans difference in everyday use and would just ignore what I would consider techno babble. Use what ever good grade of leather that you fancy. The second strop material can be webbing, canvas, linen or hard wool felt. All are used every time before you go to the leather to prep the blade for the leather. My usual routine is 20 round trips on hard felt or linen, depending which strop I use, followed by 60 round trips on leather. To me the choice of which type of leather to buy and which type of material for the pre strop is just personal preference, they all seem to work. The debate about which works best is another version of the Nikon vs Canon debate/flame wars.

Bob

Well my Kanyama is a 250,000 grit strop so there


Honestly the whole thing sounds like a bit of Horse Pucky, from the "Claiming" of the grit to the wool felt wrecking edges...

I have never even seen a Big anything strop so I can't attest to what they have... But For Sure when SRD launched their felt strops, I tested mine for quite some time without pastes to see how the Felt worked in place of Linen.. I found no issues it worked just fine, of course I also found no issues with (over)using the same strop with Diamond paste to prove another point about alleged rounding of the edge .. But I digress as that is another story


http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...xperiment.html

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Honestly the whole thing sounds like a bit of Horse Pucky, from the "Claiming" of the grit to the wool felt wrecking edges...
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What bit of the horse is the pucky, does it make a good strop, and where can I get one?

I hate to doubt what I have no experience or data to support...but I would LOVE to learn what analysis was done to define the grit ranges and differences for those strops.

I think the debris floating around in the air in my neighborhood right now is probably coarser than 80,000. I seem to recall reading that pollen contains silicates....

Originally Posted by unit

I hate to doubt what I have no experience or data to support...but I would LOVE to learn what analysis was done to define the grit ranges and differences for those strops.

I think the debris floating around in the air in my neighborhood right now is probably coarser than 80,000. I seem to recall reading that pollen contains silicates....

LOL. You just started the latest new fad; Air Stropping

I estimate my backyard air at 90,000 grit. About 500 passes and the pollen in the air will take that edge to a whole new level.

Originally Posted by 1holegrouper

LOL. You just started the latest new fad; Air Stropping

I estimate my backyard air at 90,000 grit. About 500 passes and the pollen in the air will take that edge to a whole new level.

Some pollens are better than others. You really want something that leaves a nice mellow edge. Here in the Midwest the pollen leaves a harsh toothy edge.



I prefer to strop in a vacuum to eliminate the cross contamination. I use Martian skin strops rated at 116,400 grit.

Of course, the grit varies with the season. I believe the grain in the photo above is a Ragweed, which sheds its pollen in August. You'll definitely get a harsher edge with the late-summer shedders, the yellow-flowering things. The smoother pine pollens of springtime are shaped more like coti garnets, so of course leave a much gentler edge.

I know this because I am a trained Botanist.

So are we gonna have a thread on various pollen slurries now? Maybe pollen pastes for strops?