El Cheapo Beginner's Strop + Bonus Beginner's Question

[Seveneighth]

Check this out...

View attachment 910283

Not cheap or anything, but I like it. Link. It's a loom strop made to be used on a table top.

This page, linked, suggests that a board strop, such as theirs, pictured above, 3 inches by 10 inches, is the way to go for a beginner.

"When buying your first strop your best bet is the board strop, why? It's 3" wide and nice and flat, but also keep in mind that you could nick or cut your first strop when learning so better to cut a $30 strop than a $100 strop! Trust me, we have all cut our first strop..."​

It's advice I've heard elsewhere, but is it good advice? I don't know, but it makes sense. What do you think?

They also have things to say about their product selection process and other strops.

Happy shaves,

Jim

I'm sorry... I'm not making much clarity am I? That's exactly what I meant.

I would start with a paddle or bench strop. I recommend these because:

1) A cheap hardbacked strop is still effective. A cheap hanging strop is a disaster. The backing supports the leather so no chance of cupping on the paddle.
2) As long as you have your basic stropping motion down, it's quite easy NOT to nick a paddle strop.
3) You can get a three inch wide paddle strop and that allows you to practice a nice easy straight stropping stroke. A three inch hanging strop is prone to cupping unless they are very good quality. Or you get a good quality 2.5 inch strop and have to learn to X stroke at the same time. Even easier to nick the strop like that.
4) With a hanging strop you need high quality thick leather and well maintained otherwise it will likely cup.
5) You are more likely to nick a hanging strop at first.
6) You are more likely to roll the edge on a hanging strop at which point you need to take it back to a hone.

Ultimately you will get better results from a hanging strop so you should aim to learn to use one, just not in the first week of straight shaving.

I would advise getting a paddle strop first (smooth leather). Get a properly shave ready razor that is truly ready to shave without stropping (if it was me - I would go for a restored vintage). Use it the first time without stropping. Then after that, strop until it returns to that sharpness. That should get you through your first shaves.

Once you can strop with a consistent fluid stroke on the paddle or bench strop get a good inexpensive hanging strop to develop your skills on. You WILL nick this, so I would advise a narrower thicker strop. 2.5" wide. The smaller Dovo's are good value for what they are.

From then on, you can either retain the bench /paddle strop for emergencies or treat it with good quality paste and use it as pasted strop.

Once you are up and running you might want to consider a new modern razor. For anyone that already uses an Artist Club I think the Böker stainless is a nice fit. They seem to come from the factory with a good bevel and the metal feels similar to the Feathers. At this point you could try Lapping film and pasted balsa to get the razor shave ready yourself. The wooden handled Böker is better than the plastic handled one.

Practise your stropping with a butter knife on your thigh, rolling the knife between your fingers. That's how I learnt many years ago.

The Superior Shave YouTube channel has some nice stropping videos. I also think the Dr Matt one has some good advice - the one where he talks about stropping without actually showing you how to strop!

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

I'm sorry... I'm not making much clarity am I? That's exactly what I meant.

I would start with a paddle or bench strop. I recommend these because:

1) A cheap hardbacked strop is still effective. A cheap hanging strop is a disaster. The backing supports the leather so no chance of cupping on the paddle.
2) As long as you have your basic stropping motion down, it's quite easy NOT to nick a paddle strop.
3) You can get a three inch wide paddle strop and that allows you to practice a nice easy straight stropping stroke. A three inch hanging strop is prone to cupping unless they are very good quality. Or you get a good quality 2.5 inch strop and have to learn to X stroke at the same time. Even easier to nick the strop like that.
4) With a hanging strop you need high quality thick leather and well maintained otherwise it will likely cup.
5) You are more likely to nick a hanging strop at first.
6) You are more likely to roll the edge on a hanging strop at which point you need to take it back to a hone.

Ultimately you will get better results from a hanging strop so you should aim to learn to use one, just not in the first week of straight shaving.

I would advise getting a paddle strop first (smooth leather). Get a properly shave ready razor that is truly ready to shave without stropping (if it was me - I would go for a restored vintage). Use it the first time without stropping. Then after that, strop until it returns to that sharpness. That should get you through your first shaves.

Once you can strop with a consistent fluid stroke on the paddle or bench strop get a good inexpensive hanging strop to develop your skills on. You WILL nick this, so I would advise a narrower thicker strop. 2.5" wide. The smaller Dovo's are good value for what they are.

From then on, you can either retain the bench /paddle strop for emergencies or treat it with good quality paste and use it as pasted strop.

Once you are up and running you might want to consider a new modern razor. For anyone that already uses an Artist Club I think the Böker stainless is a nice fit. They seem to come from the factory with a good bevel and the metal feels similar to the Feathers. At this point you could try Lapping film and pasted balsa to get the razor shave ready yourself. The wooden handled Böker is better than the plastic handled one.

Practise your stropping with a butter knife on your thigh, rolling the knife between your fingers. That's how I learnt many years ago.

The Superior Shave YouTube channel has some nice stropping videos. I also think the Dr Matt one has some good advice - the one where he talks about stropping without actually showing you how to strop!

Every word is helpful.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

I've ordered a very inexpensive Gold Dollar razor (pictured above) from Amazon. Link. It has no stabilizer and has good reviews for the most part. I'm not expecting much, but perhaps it will be shave ready, and, if not, down the road maybe I'll be able to hone it without having to modify it, etc.

I'm not at all sure it was a good purchase but it was not much money. I'm also not sure I can find anyone to hone it if it needs honing, but, again, not a big deal.




I'm in no hurry to shave with a SR. I'm fine with what I have already, and with learning what I can from my barber razors, both of which are Feather SS (non-folding and folding) and their AC blades along with my DE and SE safety razors. I'm using slants right now for the most part. No rush.

I'm also slowly looking around for a good shave ready Gold Dollar or some other inexpensive razor to buy. I read in lots of posts that modified and honed GD razors are easily found, but I must be a really bad at looking because I can't find any that I'm sure of. There are a coupe of eBay vendors who may be okay, but they may not be. Hard to know.

Here's the link to one of the vendors.

I've also been reading all sorts of honing and modification threads particularly excellent material by Slash @Slash McCoy. I'm fairly convinced it might be possible to hone my own razors (down the road) with lapping film. That is not me saying I'm ready to do such a thing. Why not?

• Everybody says learn to shave with a SR first.
• Everybody says not to attempt to learn honing and shaving at the same time.
• Nobody says anything other than that.
• Sounds like very good advice to me.

The only important issue for me in terms of honing and such was determining if honing and razor maintenance was a deal breaker. I don't think it is.

I've read all sorts of information on strops and buy into the good advice above. To begin with a board strop, but move very quickly to a cheap hanging strop. I've seen several which look like they might fit the bill.

Not being in a hurry has tons of advantages. One is the fun of learning what can be learned by reading. I know full well that's not the same thing as learning from experience, but it's fun and interesting anyway.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[GearNoir]

The razor will most likely not be in proper shave-ready condition unfortunately. A hanging hair test might give you some indication, but only a shave will tell you 100%.

Still, when properly honed, it should be a good shaver if taken care of.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

The razor will most likely not be in proper shave-ready condition unfortunately. A hanging hair test might give you some indication, but only a shave will tell you 100%.

Still, when properly honed, it should be a good shaver if taken care of.

That's my guess, too, and why I'm looking for truly shave ready razors. In no hurry though.

It also occurs to me that I could learn honing first and shaving second (that's not against the rules or good advice). Problem with that is obvious though.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[pathwinder14]

Expensive strops are not necessary. I make my own. I also sharpen professionally....locally as a side job so I can afford more knives and razors. In my experience, old belts work best, and only as a hanging strop. I never back my strops with anything rigid like wood. I need the strop to flex. A backed strop is less forgiving. They are great for knives (and other blades with thicker material), but the edge of a straight razor is so thin that a flexible strop will often yield better results.

Get a good used belt, 100% leather with, a suede feel on the inside and no tooling on the presentation side. Put a good amount of compound (white - aluminum oxide or green - chromium oxide) on the inside. Use the compound side first, then switch to the "naked" presentation side.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

So, are you advising against beginning with a wood backed strop?

It would be only a temporary (learning) tool. The reasoning is explained earlier in this thread. Everybody seems to say that a flexible strop is the way to go, but not necessarily the best way to begin.

I wish I'd somebody'd not gotten rid of my old Craftsman strop. It hung around for decades, but is gone now. Did my wife get rid of it? Probably so. Could have been me. Don't remember.

Expensive strops are not necessary. I make my own. I also sharpen professionally....locally as a side job so I can afford more knives and razors. In my experience, old belts work best, and only as a hanging strop. I never back my strops with anything rigid like wood. I need the strop to flex. A backed strop is less forgiving. They are great for knives (and other blades with thicker material), but the edge of a straight razor is so thin that a flexible strop will often yield better results.

Get a good used belt, 100% leather with, a suede feel on the inside and no tooling on the presentation side. Put a good amount of compound (white - aluminum oxide or green - chromium oxide) on the inside. Use the compound side first, then switch to the "naked" presentation side.

Amazing. How many people have I read who say not to use a belt. Misinformation abounds, right?

My GD razor has arrived. Link. I'm not fixing to use it.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Tony Miller]

I would agree that a paddle/board/bench strop is a great way to start and it can later be pasted and used to hone. They work great for knives too.

Sent from my LGMS428 using Tapatalk

 

[Dzaw]

Old belts can work, but you've got to be pretty darnded picky about them.

Not only will tooling ruin the belt for use as a strop, but stitched sides in multi layer belts makes it pretty usesless. Finally, the leather needs to stay flat and not cup when pulled taught. And taught, you do want to pull! The more 'slack' there is in your strop, the more it rounds off the face of the hyper sharp edge you worked so hard to create!

Far better to learn on a wood backed paddle strop. Sure, it's a little less forgiving, and the length is more limited, so you need a couple of extra laps, but they do a fine job.

It also occurs to me that I could learn honing first and shaving second (that's not against the rules or good advice). Problem with that is obvious though.

Not against the rules (the only rules are your own - it's your face!) but probably against good advice. Without a shaving ready blade to make a fair comparison, you could end up really scraping and irritating your face even with good technique - this would not be helpful in learning to shave well with the tool at hand!

If you would like, I have a ZY razor I could send you. They're the first cousins / siblings of Gold Dollar, and having a sharp blade would at least give you a baseline for comparison while you learn to hone. It's good and sharp, and with stropping between shaves should serve you well to learn on for a good while.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

I've ordered a board strop from Classic Edge. How long it takes to ship is unknown. I opted for the free shipping. My guess is it's pretty slow but that's okay.

I also accepted the very kind offer in the previous post. Can't beat a razor known to be in shave ready condition. Thanks so much. Of course, that led me to have to get a strop.

We'll see how it goes. I'm terrified of course.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Seveneighth]

I've ordered a board strop from Classic Edge. How long it takes to ship is unknown. I opted for the free shipping. My guess is it's pretty slow but that's okay.

I also accepted the very kind offer in the previous post. Can't beat a razor known to be in shave ready condition. Thanks so much. Of course, that led me to have to get a strop.

We'll see how it goes. I'm terrified of course.

Happy shaves,

Jim

Welcome to the dark Side.

Practise your stropping now with a butter knife on a flat surface in order to get the hang of the motion.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Welcome to the dark Side.

Practise your stropping now with a butter knife on a flat surface in order to get the hang of the motion.

Will do. Thanks.

 

[Slash McCoy]

Old belts can work, but you've got to be pretty darnded picky about them.

Not only will tooling ruin the belt for use as a strop, but stitched sides in multi layer belts makes it pretty usesless. Finally, the leather needs to stay flat and not cup when pulled taught. And taught, you do want to pull! The more 'slack' there is in your strop, the more it rounds off the face of the hyper sharp edge you worked so hard to create!

Far better to learn on a wood backed paddle strop. Sure, it's a little less forgiving, and the length is more limited, so you need a couple of extra laps, but they do a fine job.



Not against the rules (the only rules are your own - it's your face!) but probably against good advice. Without a shaving ready blade to make a fair comparison, you could end up really scraping and irritating your face even with good technique - this would not be helpful in learning to shave well with the tool at hand!

If you would like, I have a ZY razor I could send you. They're the first cousins / siblings of Gold Dollar, and having a sharp blade would at least give you a baseline for comparison while you learn to hone. It's good and sharp, and with stropping between shaves should serve you well to learn on for a good while.

Belts are usually cupped, and crooked, from stressing against the belt loops. And of course way too narrow. I would give the belt a miss. Better to just get a 3" wide strip of veg tanned leather from McMaster-Carr (It will be higher quality than what you get from Tandy) and make a strop, or get Larry's Rich Man strop or even the Poor Man strop. And I would give paddle, board, etc strops a miss, too. You want the ever so slight sag that you get when you pull a strop taut and go at it with the razor.

If a "proper" strop wasn't the only game in town, half of all straight shavers wouldn't even own one. Go with the right stuff. A good or even adequate strop makes all the difference in shave comfort and quality.

 

[Twelvefret]

Ordered this from a maker near me.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Having tons of experience - like three recent SR shaves - I've read this thread again.

It's always helpful to me to look at things again and again and see how they've changed while I was busy doing something else. Particularly if the something else involved gaining experience related to the subject matter.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Macfrommichigan]

What a great discussion! Convinced me to stick with DE!

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

What a great discussion! Convinced me to stick with DE!

It's all good.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Lots of stuff here helpful to me. In some ways it's more helpful now than it was three months ago.

Thanks, gentlemen, and happy shaves,

Jim