So is my stropping to blame, or am I on track here?

[SavantStrike]

I've been shaving with my shave ready straight for around 10 shaves now (lost count), and it feels like stropping alone isn't quite holding it any more. I'm going to give it the chromium oxide treatment to remedy this, but I'm starting to wonder if maybe my stropping isn't partially to blame for my blade not being as sharp as it should. 10 shaves sounds like a low number to me. Am I right in this assessment? Goodness knows I've put a few nicks in the strop so far...

For the record, I don't have a linen strop, leather only.

 

[just1nsturm]

I've been shaving with my shave ready straight for around 10 shaves now (lost count), and it feels like stropping alone isn't quite holding it any more. I'm going to give it the chromium oxide treatment to remedy this, but I'm starting to wonder if maybe my stropping isn't partially to blame for my blade not being as sharp as it should. 10 shaves sounds like a low number to me. Am I right in this assessment? Goodness knows I've put a few nicks in the strop so far...

For the record, I don't have a linen strop, leather only.

Maybe the nicks are what did it.

 

[mparker762]

10 shaves sounds like a low number to me. Am I right in this assessment?

10-14 shaves seems about right if you're using cowhide or latigo, and don't use linen...

For the record, I don't have a linen strop, leather only.

I'm pretty certain this is the culprit. I generally got around 10 shaves on an edge until I started using the linen daily at which point it jumped by 10x or so...

 

[SavantStrike]

10-14 shaves seems about right if you're using cowhide or latigo, and don't use linen...




I'm pretty certain this is the culprit. I generally got around 10 shaves on an edge until I started using the linen daily at which point it jumped by 10x or so...

I knew you recommended a linen strop for a reason .

The catch 22 is if I had gotten a linen strop, I would have hacked that up too with my amateur stropping.

I'm not quite ready to get a fancy strop yet, but would love to try the linen. I'm considering going the DIY route with the linen. Does anyone have an idea of what type of material I should be looking for?

 

[mparker762]

The catch 22 is if I had gotten a linen strop, I would have hacked that up too with my amateur stropping.

For some reason the linen never gets nicked, even on the beat up old vintage strops the linen is almost always good no matter how cut up the leather side is. This is a good way to get an excellent linen strop, cheaply.

 

[SavantStrike]

For some reason the linen never gets nicked, even on the beat up old vintage strops the linen is almost always good no matter how cut up the leather side is. This is a good way to get an excellent linen strop, cheaply.

I hadn't thought about vintage.

How does the white paste/chalk compare to chromium oxide as far as grit is concerned? Does it theoretically put a slightly finer edge on the blade, or is it strictly useful for maintaining the edge. If it adds to the sharpness of the blade, I'm all for it, but otherwise I'm not sure I wouldn't prefer just to use chromium oxide once a week and save myself from doing 2x as much stropping the other 7 days. Is there any adverse effect with just using the chromium oxide once a week and giving the razor a hit on a Chinese 12k every month to couple of months?

 

[mparker762]

If you use the white paste or chalk you don't need to do nearly as much stropping.

One thing I really like is the white polish bar from the hardware store. Mine is this one from Harbor Freight: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=96780. I prefer its edges to chrome oxide, and it's mild enough to be put on your daily strop. I've got it on one of my linen-backed paddles and one of my linen hangers.

 

[SavantStrike]

If you use the white paste or chalk you don't need to do nearly as much stropping.

One thing I really like is the white polish bar from the hardware store. Mine is this one from Harbor Freight: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=96780. I prefer its edges to chrome oxide, and it's mild enough to be put on your daily strop. I've got it on one of my linen-backed paddles and one of my linen hangers.

That looks perfect. It also doesn't look like it removes as much metal as the chromium oxide will, which frankly might make a difference over the next 30 years.

I'm sold on the idea. I wanted to get myself a nicer strop anyway... I just won't use the leather side for a little while . I'm not hot on keeping things the way they are as today's shave was good, but getting uncomfortable. If I can only get 10-12 shaves with my current setup, honestly I would like to try to get more out of the blade before hitting the paste or the hone.