Thread: hones or pasted strop?

I've been reading that some people use the back of their strop (the fuzzy side) and was wondering if I can use this side with paste/spray? I don't have the money for hones right now and would like to keep my edge as long as possible. I figure pasting a strop is a lot cheaper. I also have the webbed fabric strop as well which would work best? or should I just hold out and try to save for hones? I know I should have both at some point... right?

Don't be in a hurry to hone. If you're just getting started, your razor will not need this for a while. As long as you properly strop and otherwise take care of your razor, you'll be OK for quite some time

Agree with LAsoxfan. Focus on the strop; maybe add a cotton or linen strop to the leather. You can get by for a very long time assuming your blade was shave ready to begin with. And for very little, you can send the blade to any number of honemeisters you'll find lurking about who will put you back in business.

A pasted strop (I'd suggest a dedicated one...maybe leather on wood, paddle strop, or other hanging one) is nice to have but is used very little on any single blade and is not a substitue for a barbers or finishing hone that is used to refresh a blade. Paste polishes and "smoothes" freshly sharpened steel but wont get you too far in terms of refreshing a dulling blade (IMHO).

A barbers hone is a good investment and ultimately you'll want one. The problem is, it works really well if you are good at honing. For a beginner to take a slightly off blade and make it fresh again...well you very well might do it and then again, you might make it worse. You dont get much practice on a barbers stone when you have one blade....every 3 months or so you get to do five laps!!

But, if like sr shaving, you will undoubtedly have more razors, use paste, barbers hones and the rest of the stones. Have more than one blade before you dig in, because there is always the chance that you'll have to send a blade out for professional sharpening.

Keep reading and have fun. J

im in no hurry to ruin my razors trust me. but im big on DIY. my first razor i got from SRD with the free honing that was offered so i can always send that one out and have a fresh razor. im going to have to learn how to do this eventually... needless to say im hooked

I use a DIY pasted paddle strop to sharpen/maintain just about all my razors. The paddle I made from a scrap piece of 1x1 and an old leather belt. I sanded the 1x1 smooth and cut it to 16 inches long(I would recommend making it longer) and then cut the belt into 1 inch strips and the strips cut it to 12 inches in length pieces. I then applied the leather strips to the 4 sides of the 1x1 with contact cement. Once the cement was dried I applied DOVO green(4-6 microns), red(2-4 microns), black(1-2 microns), and 9 micron diamond to all 4 sides. I have found that as long as a blade has a workable bevel I can get it shave ready with this setup. I have also used .5 Crox and .25 Ferox to further refined the edge but I found I liked the shave edge off the dovo black better.

If all you want from paste is to refreash the blade DOVO black will give you as a good a refreash as a barber hone and the .5 Crox and .25 Ferox will give you a much sharper edge then ethier the barber hone or DOVO black.

For any paste I would recommend a paddle strop.

FWIW --

I think the "paste vs hone" choice is a matter of religion. You'll find enthusiasts for each of them.

Pasted strops will slightly round the razor's edge. But (in my limited experience) that edge gives a nice shave.

If you want to experiment inexpensively, I think there's a pasted strop kit -- a piece of balsa with two grades of abrasive (0.5 and 0.1 micron), and some spare abrasive powder, at:

Whipped Dog Straight Razor Sales

That should keep your razor sharp for a good long time -- and when it doesn't, you can decide whether to buy a hone, or send it out.

CHarles

I'll agree with Charles in that you will find people that swear by paste and some by hone but the rounding issue he talks of is not an issue if you are using a paddle strop.

The rounding issue is if you use paste on a hanging strop. On a hanging strop over time you will probally round the edge some do to the give in the hanging strop. No matter how taut you hold a hanging strop it is meant to give atleast a little so it makes it easy to slightly round off an edge. However the paddle strop gives you a nice smooth/ridged surface to work off of just like a hone does.