Thread: To Strop or not to Strop that is the question.

I recently purchased a Kobar straight razor off ebay which wasnt shave ready.Having not yet mastered the art of honing and stropping i decided to give myself a head start and send it off to "The Invisible Edge.co.uk" for a Honing, stropping, clean & polish.

After the razor has been sent back to me will i still have to Strop this razor before i shave with it for the first time? or can i shave with it straight out of the wrapper?.

Just clean the oil off and shave with it. That's what I did when I got them back from Invisible Edge.

Typically, you don't have to strop. I am a proponent of wiping off the oil, giving the razor a nice stropping and then shaving.

Lynn

Whenever I hone a razor either for myself or others I ALWAYS strop for 50-60 roundtrip laps just before each shave.

It helps a lot.

Originally Posted by Bazru

After the razor has been sent back to me will i still have to Strop this razor before i shave with it for the first time? or can i shave with it straight out of the wrapper?.

Welcome to SRP. While there is no doubt that stropping before the shave is proper and advisable if you aren't confident in your skill you might want to try shaving with the razor before you strop. I have gotten a new TI from The Invisible Edge and the honing was first rate.

Improper stropping can dull an edge so as I say, take that into account when you decide what you're going to do. If you need practice stropping use a butter knife until the razor arrives. Here is a PDF excerpt from a barber's manual in the SRP Wiki help files on honing and on stropping. Some excellent instruction on stropping in there. I particularly like the instruction to practice flipping the razor without moving your arm for the stroke.


Here is a tutorial on how to do your first shaves from SRP founder Lynn Abrams. and keep us posted on your progress and don't hesitate to ask questions if you have them.

Hi - just to clarify, I always strop the razors I hone and advise customers to use them stright out of the box as this gives a benchmark as to how the edge should feel afte they strop it themselves. Bear in mind that many of my customers are new to SR shaving and, as has been said, poor stropping technique can wreak havoc on an edge.

I do get a few saying that after stropping the razor doesn't seem as sharp - this generally sorts itself out after a few times and a bit of practice. I am always happy to take any razor back for re-touching if someone makes a mess of it whilst learning!

Originally Posted by blueprinciple

Hi - just to clarify, I always strop the razors I hone and advise customers to use them stright out of the box as this gives a benchmark as to how the edge should feel afte they strop it themselves. Bear in mind that many of my customers are new to SR shaving and, as has been said, poor stropping technique can wreak havoc on an edge.

I do get a few saying that after stropping the razor doesn't seem as sharp - this generally sorts itself out after a few times and a bit of practice. I am always happy to take any razor back for re-touching if someone makes a mess of it whilst learning!

This truly is the dilema. Virtually every time a new person has problems with shaving with a honed razor, it is poor technique or poor preparation. That being said, it is always nice to start with a stropped razor too. We have had folks attempt to shave without wiping the oil off. They have tried to pop hairs with the oil on or after wiping it off and walk away with the perception that the razor is not sharp and once the perception is there it is reality for that person. And, as you indicate we have had people attempt to strop and either rolled up on the stroke or rolled the razor over on the edge or some other aberration causing the razor to dull. There is definitely a learning curve here.......

Lynn

I simply wasn't confident that I wouldn't dull the edge with my newbie stropping skills when I got my razors from Invisible Edge. It taught me how a razor is supposed to feel.

Originally Posted by dannywonderful

I simply wasn't confident that I wouldn't dull the edge with my newbie stropping skills when I got my razors from Invisible Edge. It taught me how a razor is supposed to feel.

Exactly, this is what i was going to say. Im still very new to straight shaving, but the most important thing i have learned so far is what a sharp razor SHOULD feel like. Keep an eye out for HLBUDs classified postings. He puts some very reasonably priced razors out, and they come very sharp.

Once you get your new razor, you now know how a decently honed razor should feel. Use whatever test you want...personally i actually drag my thumb pad across the blade to feel it along my fingerprint.

Now that you know how a sharp razor should feel, you should slowly progress into a stropping routine. I knew that i was stropping correctly because my blade felt restored after 50-60 passes.

Now after i get a new blade, i shave once and strop with confidence ony my next shave because i know im not rolling over edges to my blades.

Originally Posted by Lynn

This truly is the dilema. Virtually every time a new person has problems with shaving with a honed razor, it is poor technique or poor preparation. That being said, it is always nice to start with a stropped razor too. We have had folks attempt to shave without wiping the oil off. They have tried to pop hairs with the oil on or after wiping it off and walk away with the perception that the razor is not sharp and once the perception is there it is reality for that person. And, as you indicate we have had people attempt to strop and either rolled up on the stroke or rolled the razor over on the edge or some other aberration causing the razor to dull. There is definitely a learning curve here.......

Lynn

Hi Lynn - but then is that not one of the attractions of SR shaving V. a thing in a plastic bubble with five blades? The 5-er may be megasharp, coated with who knows what and able to part a gnat from its important bits without trouble, but it is essentially a soulless product of a consumer age wherein most people seem to know the price of everything and the value of nothing. I truly value my skill as a honer and stropper - I don't set myself as 'above' or 'below' anyone else in this particualr pantheon, I think that's rather pointless - and I always remember (as a very wise old guy once told me) that 'perfection is not attainable - it is a thing to strive for. If you believe you have reached perfection you have then stopped learning'.

Maybe that's Zen - I have no idea! What I do know is that I honed four razors today using the same technique: the edges on two are good to middling, one is very good indeed and one is truly superb - achingly sharp. Yet the same technique was applied to each! This surely shows up the fact that each edge, each razor is essentially different though basically the same. I find myself frustrated when newcomers to the Art ask ' how many passes to do thus and so?' If only honing and stropping were an exact science I could say 'do this, then that, then this -voila! the perfect edge!' but it isn't and I can't. (The real skill I think lies in obtaining a shaving edge on the three that weren't 'superb'.)

All I can say to any beginners out there is - practice. LOTS. Eventually you will have a 'feel' for the steel beneath your fingers and then you will be on the road. I've been on it for a while - it's still good fun and I'm still learning plenty.

PS beer helps...