The draw of a leather strop

[tboyer]

Howdy everyone, people talk about the draw of a leather
strop. Is draw a reference to the resistance of the strop, and
is a heavy draw strop more aggressive?
thanks.

 

[Legion]

No, not necessarily more aggressive. No strop should be "aggressive", as it is only aligning the edge.

Draw is to do with how much friction there is. Some people like more, some less. It is just personal preference.

 

[Kentos]

Howdy everyone, people talk about the draw of a leather
strop. Is draw a reference to the resistance of the strop, and
is a heavy draw strop more aggressive?
thanks.

I think when someone refers to draw, it refers to the resistance felt, as well as the tactile feedback one gets through the razor. Heavy means heavy, light means light, but when you read "zippy" or "buttery" or "glassy", it gets interesting, and is a big source of the AD bug for me.
I have few strops, and they all do the job equally, so draw has nothing to do with the aggressiveness or whatever. If anything, a heavier draw may make it harder for a new user to get enough quality laps off the strop, which is why I preferred light horsehide a few months ago, and today prefer a heavier draw...YMMV

 

[Woodash]

And for me, the opposite. I used to like a med-heavier draw, but now have gravitated toward a lighter (zippier!) draw mainly because I can maintain a very light touch with some pretty good speed. It's the light touch on the strop that seems to be really be making a big difference for me lately. Helps that this one particular strop that I've been using lately is not just fast, but also very responsive/tactile - e.g., light, but definitely not glassy.

 

[tinkersd]

Mostly a personel thing really, IF your razor feels WAY to much like it's sticking to the leather when you strop, that's a problem..
But the rest is just tactile preference.

IMHO tinkersd

 

[gull]

I'm using two strops as of now. One has heavy draw and I find it does the bulk of the work in aligning the edge. Especially after a touch up, the heavy draw strop cuts down on a lot of work. After that I use my light draw strop to really squeeze out some keenness.

Eventually I would like to use just the heavy draw strop since it's the most expensive/best looking. But right now, I find that using both makes maintaining the edge really easy.

 

[kirk 988]

I think when someone refers to draw, it refers to the resistance felt, as well as the tactile feedback one gets through the razor. Heavy means heavy, light means light, but when you read "zippy" or "buttery" or "glassy", it gets interesting, and is a big source of the AD bug for me.
I have few strops, and they all do the job equally, so draw has nothing to do with the aggressiveness or whatever. If anything, a heavier draw may make it harder for a new user to get enough quality laps off the strop, which is why I preferred light horsehide a few months ago, and today prefer a heavier draw...YMMV

this is funny ive only just started to get more fluent on my strop but when i get nick it is always on my zippy horsehide not my heavier draw side which is leather

 

[Kentos]

I think you nick the horse because you can use more speed and you flip the razor before you finish the stroke. On heavier draw it slow you down just enough so when you flip you are a closer to a stop...IMO of course