What do I really need? People have said the poormans strop off wippeddog. On but is that over kill for a beginner?. Thanks in advance and sorry if the formatting is off on posting from a phone
starting strop
- Thread starter wiskibubbles
- Start date
The poor man's strop kit is one of the better bangs for your buck. I would definitely go there, or check out Star Shaving, they have some great strops.
The best strop to start with is one you can afford to slice up and ruin! Seriously 
A high end one is nice, but a cheaper one will accomplish the same thing .
A high end one is nice, but a cheaper one will accomplish the same thing .
- Thread starter
- #4
So do I need a balsa strop or will a 10 dollar strop off amazon or something work since I will pro ally destroy it
A McMaster-Carr vegetable-tanned 1/8" x 3" x 36" piece of belt leather will work: http://www.mcmaster.com/#leather/=o3027y. Cut the length to 24" (the remaining 12" can be used on a paddle) and hand-sand the surface lengthwise in both directions 2-3 times with 80x sandpaper followed by 120x 2-3 times, vacuuming off the leather dust on the surface after finishing with each grit (wear a dust mask while sanding too!). You now have a piece of "Russian leather" on your hands. Add a grommet at one end and a shoelace to attach to a hook, hinge, or doorknob and you're ready to begin. And when you cut into the thing by accident later, you already know how to fix it with the sandpaper. Keep the strop away from water at all costs, though, as it's really thirsty in this state (as is any similar Solingen production piece).
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- Thread starter
- #6
so what I get from all of this is basicly either get a poormans strop kit or make one. and it will be the best bang for the buck while I'm learning. The whole balsa strop confuses me but Ill figure it out
You can buy a Tony Miller or SRD strop or similar with the replaceable stropping section. Replacements are around $25+ so its really up to you. I would stay away from high end Kanayama and strops of similar one piece construction for now though because your almost certain to nick or slash it like the rest of us did.
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- #8
ok cool I saw the Tony Miller deal I might just do that. I just don't want to go overboard for my first one
If you buy a Tony Miller I urge you to buy a replacement section from him to have a spare for later or a replacement from SRD or similar and start with that. Tony has some fine leather and you will find it hard to replace in terms of efficacy and feel so save the original for when you have a bit of experience. If you haven't noticed there is almost never a TM strop for sale by someone who didn't care for it.
There is also Neil Miller (no relation) if you are in the UK and his are quite nice as well.
There is also Neil Miller (no relation) if you are in the UK and his are quite nice as well.
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- #10
ok cool. What about balsa is that required ? or something along those lines. I see it in the kit but Im not sure if I need it
The balsa is for when the edge starts to not shave as well after regular stroppings. If you plan to maintain your razor using pasted strops rather than hones then it is something to acquire as you go but you shouldn't need it for the first few weeks or longer depending on the quality of the steel and the edge honed onto the razor. If money is tight your welcome to send me the razor for maintenance or until you decide if straight razors are something you wish to invest heavily in.
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- Thread starter
- #12
ok cool thank you. There is a leather shop in town I'm gonna check out Monday. Then if not Ill probably just buy aTM
If you can get a pliable leather that does not have a skin on it from a spray dye your in business.
- Thread starter
- #14
I got one im gonna post some pictures. The owner of the shop said he uses it for the same thing and has done it before
- Thread starter
- #15
That dog'll hunt!
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
You can strop on newspaper, and in fact I recommend that you do so for the first week. If you slice up a sheet of newspaper, no biggie. Simply fold a whole sheet into a 3" wide strip, or a little narrower but not less than 2-1/2" wide. Pass an end of this strip over a towel rod or something similar, pinch both ends together, pull it tight, and you have a totally expendable strop. Make a brand new one every day, for that matter. Works nearly as good as leather. Don't try to simply lay newspaper on a tabletop and strop on that. That doesn't work so well, generally.
The PMSK (Poor Man's Strop Kit) is a pretty good purchase for a newbie. When you are ready to graduate from the newspaper you can use this and not worry too much about it. Plus it comes with a pasted balsa. I prefer diamond paste and Larry uses green and red, but it works just fine.
www.starshaving.com is where I get my Big Daddy strops. I have two of them. They are really really big, and pretty darn cheap. Also they have removable hardware. If you slice up the right hand edge, simply swap ends and the slices and nicks are now on the left edge, out of the way, since the strop is 3" wide which is wider than the length of most straight razor edges. You can replace the leather. You can even replace the felt part with a second leather piece, and they sell replacement leather.
If you spend more than $40 for a strop, definitely make sure that the hardware is removable and you can swap ends with the leather. It doubles your strop life, even without buying more leather. At least it does if the strop is over 2-1/2" wide, anyway. Another good reason to prefer a wide strop.
The pasted balsa strop is to me an essential maintenance tool. I strop on .1u diamond after every shave and as a consequence I never have to re-hone my razors. Occasionally I will have one try to go dull on me, but a session on .5u diamond on balsa straightens it right up. You can wait until your razor goes dull and then strop and strop and strop and stropandstropandstrop until it is sharp again, if you like, but I prefer to keep it from getting dull in the first place, so I strop on diamond/balsa after every shave. After your first week of straight shaving, I suggest that you start doing the same. Not right away because poor technique could dull your edge while you are struggling to learn to shave, which is the worst possible time to have a dull edge.
The PMSK (Poor Man's Strop Kit) is a pretty good purchase for a newbie. When you are ready to graduate from the newspaper you can use this and not worry too much about it. Plus it comes with a pasted balsa. I prefer diamond paste and Larry uses green and red, but it works just fine.
www.starshaving.com is where I get my Big Daddy strops. I have two of them. They are really really big, and pretty darn cheap. Also they have removable hardware. If you slice up the right hand edge, simply swap ends and the slices and nicks are now on the left edge, out of the way, since the strop is 3" wide which is wider than the length of most straight razor edges. You can replace the leather. You can even replace the felt part with a second leather piece, and they sell replacement leather.
If you spend more than $40 for a strop, definitely make sure that the hardware is removable and you can swap ends with the leather. It doubles your strop life, even without buying more leather. At least it does if the strop is over 2-1/2" wide, anyway. Another good reason to prefer a wide strop.
The pasted balsa strop is to me an essential maintenance tool. I strop on .1u diamond after every shave and as a consequence I never have to re-hone my razors. Occasionally I will have one try to go dull on me, but a session on .5u diamond on balsa straightens it right up. You can wait until your razor goes dull and then strop and strop and strop and stropandstropandstrop until it is sharp again, if you like, but I prefer to keep it from getting dull in the first place, so I strop on diamond/balsa after every shave. After your first week of straight shaving, I suggest that you start doing the same. Not right away because poor technique could dull your edge while you are struggling to learn to shave, which is the worst possible time to have a dull edge.
Looks good. Vegetable-tanned machinery-belt production. Go with it as is, and if you introduce a significant cut, hit the entire surface with 80x to remove the cut, followed by 120x to experience the Russian leather effect (you can go up all the way to 600x as well, if you really want to get smooth here). Then leave the strop a little bit slack and add a little bit of pressure.
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