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Strop Acquisition Thread

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
First a brief history of my SR shaving adventure.

I started into SR shaving almost two years ago. Being the frugal person that I am, I started with a $5 RSO, a couple of very small whetstones ($2 each) and a $2.50 50mm wide "leather" strop. I already had brush and soap from my cart shaving. All looked good but nothing would work. It was then that I discovered B&B.

With the guidance of B&B I realised and accepted my erroneous ways and, still being frugal, purchased a real SR, lapping film and diamond pasted balsa stropping gear, and a mid-range 60mm wide Chinese strop. From there on is only history, suffice to say that I kept with the mid-range Chinese strops all this time. Yes, I cut up a few of those strops while learning but they performed well and were ideal as a travelling strop.

After about 500 SR shaves and not having marked my strop for about 300 of those, I decided to upgrade to a "flash" strop. With @Tony Miller having a good reputation here, I contacted him to discuss my needs.

Being well use to a 60mm wide strop, I decided that one of his 64mm (2½") strops would best suit me. Together we decided on a fast bridal strop with cotton secondary and D rings. All for USD 50 plus USD 60 delivery to Australia.

Yesterday my new "flash" TM strop arrived. It was more than I expected. The quality was exceptional.

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This morning I used it for the first time. The strop was so smooth on my SR (one of my English M7DS's). The feel while stropping was just fantastic!

After my shave, I started to clean the edge with a few laps on the cotton strop. This was not to my liking. I have never felt that a cloth strop was gentle enough on my delicate edges, and the TN strop is no exception. Like I have with all my other cloth strops, I will line this one with natural chamois. It's just a personal preference.

As for shave quality off the TM strop, I could notice no difference from my mid-range Chinese strops, however the feel while stropping and the looks is definitely won by the TM strop.

If I buy another strop, it will definitely be another TM strop.
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
Did you participate in one of the pass rounds? Cannot remember. In any case, I am sure you will love it. I know it sems most of us that try one, buy one. I know I love my mine.
Not being in the US, I was excluded from the pass-arounds. I ordered the TM stop based purely on @Tony Miller's reputation here on B&B. I now know that that reputation is well deserved.
 
I use my Tony Miller strop every day. It was an upgrade from my first strop which was 2 inches wide. Cut it up pretty good.

Mine is 3 inches and it's a steerhide/linnen, an Old #2 heirloom. Bought it on a whim a few months ago after having some money to kill. I knew they were good strops when I bought it (thanks to this forum) but didn't realize I had a lifetime quality strop until I started using it. Fabulous quality and I will take very good care of it for as long as I'm around.
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
.... I knew they were good strops when I bought it (thanks to this forum) but didn't realize I had a lifetime quality strop until I started using it. Fabulous quality and I will take very good care of it for as long as I'm around.
@Tony Miller has some problems with his business plan. He refuses to outsource the manufacture of his strops to China to help meet demand. Also, with the quality of his strops lasting a lifetime or more, he will reach the stage where he saturates the market and have few customers. I don't think that he has heard of planned obsolescence.
 
@Tony Miller has some problems with his business plan. He refuses to outsource the manufacture of his strops to China to help meet demand. Also, with the quality of his strops lasting a lifetime or more, he will reach the stage where he saturates the market and have few customers. I don't think that he has heard of planned obsolescence.
This conversation is between you and him, assuming you are both businessmen able to bounce ideas off each other to further your agendas.

I merely stated that I enjoyed what I purchased.
 

Tony Miller

Speaking of horse butts…
@Tony Miller has some problems with his business plan. He refuses to outsource the manufacture of his strops to China to help meet demand. Also, with the quality of his strops lasting a lifetime or more, he will reach the stage where he saturates the market and have few customers. I don't think that he has heard of planned obsolescence.

Ha! Good one Richard ! :001_tt2:


At one point I had my Amish friends help cut strop blanks and make end caps for me but once I had more time I did everything in house. They did a wonderful job and I enjoyed my visits with them greatly. My 4 sided paddle blanks are still made by a Mennonite woodturner in Lancaster to my pattern and finished here in my shop. I did have a friend help assemble hanging strops many years ago but had to redo way too much work. It is hard to make others care as much about what you do as you do yourself.

I am my product and the two cannot be separated :biggrin1:
 
Cool topic. Yesterday my gold dollar kit with strop arrived. I found it very strange because it came packaged with blue paper that releases ink on my hands. It looks like those old carbon papers used to make copies. The strop was not wrapped in it, but the impression was that it was wrapping the strop as the strop had blue stains on the paper color.
RBSCEBU your chinese strop also came with a paper of this type or did it have stains? I was curious because I wanted to know what the paper was for. My strop has a rather strange tannery smell. The strap is smaller in size than my other strop, the leather is thinner and softer and resembles a texture of nubuck leather. I haven't done tests with it yet, so I'll tell when test. In the future I am thinking of acquiring a Tony Miller, but for now the exchange rate for the dollar in Brazil is very bad for me (5x). Best Regards!
ps. sorry my bad english.
 

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rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
@Adonay, my mid-range Chinese strop (the same as yours) came in a clear cellophane bag, not carbon paper.

Your strop will serve you well. I found that my blades slide better on a @Tony Miller strop (feels better) but I have not yet noticed any difference in shaving performance between the two. The TM strop is also a few millimetres wider and has about 100mm more available in stropping length.

When you can, I recommend that you get a TM strop. Until then your Chinese strop should be quite usable. Try not to cut it up too much and give it a rub with the underside of your forearm before and after each use.
 
rbscebu Thanks for the answer. I found the blue paper that came out very strange.
I will compare it to the strop (ruitertassen) I have, and in a few weeks I will comment.

I recommend that you get a TM strop . It will probably be my next step.
 
More photos. Strop blue stain.
 

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rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
I wouldn't worry about the stain. Than shouldn't affect the stropping result.
 
Ha! Good one Richard ! :001_tt2:


At one point I had my Amish friends help cut strop blanks and make end caps for me but once I had more time I did everything in house. They did a wonderful job and I enjoyed my visits with them greatly. My 4 sided paddle blanks are still made by a Mennonite woodturner in Lancaster to my pattern and finished here in my shop. I did have a friend help assemble hanging strops many years ago but had to redo way too much work. It is hard to make others care as much about what you do as you do yourself.

I am my product and the two cannot be separated :biggrin1:
What…, did rbscebu buy out your ENTIRE inventory? 😳

Went on your website and it appears almost ALL your strops are out of stock. 😫

(NICE looking strops, btw. 😉)
 

Tony Miller

Speaking of horse butts…
What…, did rbscebu buy out your ENTIRE inventory? 😳

Went on your website and it appears almost ALL your strops are out of stock. 😫

(NICE looking strops, btw. 😉)

This is just a sideline for me and right now I have some other home and family obligations so I release strops about every other week as leather supplies and shop time is available. Just listed a bunch tonight.
 
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