3" Heavyweight Polypropylene as a strop?
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Experimentation holds the true answer...
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
Yeah try it and see. YMMV.
Me, I don't waste my time with any fabric component. I just strop strop strop on good honest hanging leather. No linen, no felt, no fire hose, no seat belt. But that's me. However I haven't found any magic material that will do anything that plain old compressed cowhide with a bit of neats foot and beeswax rubbed in, can't do. YMMV.
Me, I don't waste my time with any fabric component. I just strop strop strop on good honest hanging leather. No linen, no felt, no fire hose, no seat belt. But that's me. However I haven't found any magic material that will do anything that plain old compressed cowhide with a bit of neats foot and beeswax rubbed in, can't do. YMMV.
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All I needed to hear, so far your advice is making this stuff too easy and super nice. I'll get a little neats foot and beeswax and oil up my leather strop.
Give it a try.
I was sure that I would hate man made secondaries, but told myself to keep an open mind. I have found the few that I've tried to be very effective. To my knowledge I have not tried polypropylene. I found one polyester secondary to be the most aggressive secondary that I've ever used. That polyester is what is attached to my daily boar.
I was sure that I would hate man made secondaries, but told myself to keep an open mind. I have found the few that I've tried to be very effective. To my knowledge I have not tried polypropylene. I found one polyester secondary to be the most aggressive secondary that I've ever used. That polyester is what is attached to my daily boar.
Says the guy who uses abrasive loaded balsa daily.
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
Says the guy who uses abrasive loaded balsa daily.
Touche. Sort of. Technically the balsa and diamond is more honing than stropping, since it actually removes steel. I don't feel like it is the same as the normal pre-shave hanging strop.
I'm one who regards linen and several other secondary materials, as well as leather, as abrasives. At these high grit levels the distinction between honing and stropping is vague at best IMO, and I tend to call anything spine leading as stropping. Also if the hone/strop is too soft to support edge leading strokes, it is a strop in my mind.
I just wanted to point out that people who do not use abrasive pastes may well find fabric secondaries useful.
Different strokes for different folks applies particularly well here.
I hope you regarded the stick poke in the friendly way that the gesture was meant.
I just wanted to point out that people who do not use abrasive pastes may well find fabric secondaries useful.
Different strokes for different folks applies particularly well here.
I hope you regarded the stick poke in the friendly way that the gesture was meant.
One of my first strops used a polypropopylene fabric as the second component. However, I considered it to be too "zippy". I much prefer cotton and linen. I made one DIY linen strop from lightweight Chinese linen from the local JoAnn's Fabric shop. I added an iron-on Pellon backer. It is the initial strop in my sequence for cleaning the blade. When it becomes dirty or frayed, I will make another since it is cheap. I was surprised at how well the DIY strop works. If that was my only strop, I could get by.
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
Hey no prob. And anybody who feels secondaries are important is free to think so. It is okay to disagree. That's a good thing on the internet cause we will, anyhow.
I have a poly strop, but I usually just use the cotton/linen on the back of my Tony Miller strop. Some people prefer poly over natural fibers and I've read where some use both. You really just have to give it a try and see how you like it. I would try stropping on a clean piece of nylon belt/strap and see what your initial impression is. If the fast draw and zippy feedback don't appeal to you then you know you won't like the 3" strop any better.
I wondered what could make my polyester strop so abrasive, then I read that fumed silica is often used as a thickener in polyester resin.
I have a 3 strop progression starting with hard linen to Kanayama cotton to Kanayama hanging leather. When I take out one of them I find it to have diminished in some way. The hard linen always comes first to clean up the edge, the cotton used to have white paste on one side and diamond spray on the other. I washed that all off but am sure some remains and now it is fantastic and I use both sides. I have shaved off of each strop individually but the three together is my magic mix. I have always been a tweaker and experiment constantly, but this seems to be the best I'm going to get. My test is always upper lip against the grain which is not a forgiving stroke.
