Thread: Stropping Canvas?

Hi I was curious when you should use the canvas side of the strop. I haven't yet got my razor sharp enough so I'm gonna try to do some passes on the 8k of the norton. After that should I go to the canvas and then the leather, or should I just stick to the leather? Any suggestions? Thanks

canvas is more abrasive than leather, so use it first. depending where your edge is off the norton enough stropping on the canvas may make it sharp enough, but the stone is a lot faster.

I normally do about 20 laps on canvas and about 50 in leather before I shave and after I shave, I dry my razor using a light stropping on the canvas side, about 10 strokes. People have debated whether or not the canvas does anything for the blade while stropping but from what I read, a lot of people that have been doing this for a long time use the canvas. Their opinion if I remember correctly is that while it may not help to get a sharp edge, it would not make it worse. Whether you use the canvas or not, proper stropping technique is key to obtain good results. I suggest these for starters:

Razor stropping - Straight Razor Place Wiki

http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...ing-razor.html


The strop should be held tightly.The blade should be flat on the strop and the razor should be flipped on the spine, never on the edge. Do not use too much pressure. An X pattern works really well.

Al raz.

Originally Posted by fiveten73

Hi I was curious when you should use the canvas side of the strop. I haven't yet got my razor sharp enough so I'm gonna try to do some passes on the 8k of the norton. After that should I go to the canvas and then the leather, or should I just stick to the leather? Any suggestions? Thanks

Either works, but the edge will be sharper and smoother if you go to the canvas first. The canvas acts like a slow finishing hone. Off of the Norton I'd probably do 50-100 laps on the canvas, then another 50 or so on the leather.

If you don't bother stropping on the canvas, then your first shave will be a bit harsh and rough but it will improve over the first few shaves. An initial thorough stropping on the linen and leather will give you a nice shave the first time.

Originally Posted by mparker762

Either works, but the edge will be sharper and smoother if you go to the canvas first. The canvas acts like a slow finishing hone. Off of the Norton I'd probably do 50-100 laps on the canvas, then another 50 or so on the leather.

If you don't bother stropping on the canvas, then your first shave will be a bit harsh and rough but it will improve over the first few shaves. An initial thorough stropping on the linen and leather will give you a nice shave the first time.

+1 on that advice. After honing I normally do 25 laps on a CrO pasted strop, then 50 laps canvas/linen, and 100 laps leather. Without the paste I would do 100 canvas and 150-200 leather.

While that may sound like a lot the reason most folks report that great "third shave experience" it's because it takes that many laps and you can either do it up front and get a great first shave or you can do it in small increments (30-50 laps per shave) and wait until your third or fourth shave.

My pre-shave routine is 20 laps canvas and 60 leather. Post shave is 20 laps leather. Depending on your equipment you might get away with less or require more...you just have to experiment and find what works best for you.