Stropping a Straight Razor
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- Опубліковано 28 сер 2024
- the source for the "Malm's carnauba wax" reference referred in the video is HORWEEN THEMSELVES (~2010).
Many poor-quality strops are sold upon eBay.com, Amazon.com, etc., along with poor-quality razors.
The general advice offered here is that you don't want any modern strop or razor which doesn't say who produced it, and where (country of origin) it was made.
Strops offered upon thesuperiorshave.com are made in the European Union, and we believe you can buy strops at any sales channel and if they're made in the EU they can be trusted.
Happy shaving to you.
Bro started life and put no points into Dexterity.
used forged open razors to shave for decades vs a harsh beard quite successfully
that's probably more dexterity than you can boast
Don't have to get saucy. You are the one that said you were not dexterous enough in the video, but apparently you've been grinding your smithing skills@@thesuperiorshave
stropping is, permanently, a mild challenge to perform ideally
not like honing and shaving with the razor
Its 3am and i dont even have a straight razor
Can't knock that YT suggestee algorithm, it knows u better than u know yerself! Didn't know I'd like watching a busy Japanese intersection or British customs agents primarily busting cheap Brits smuggling in untaxed cigarettes (ultra politely) as their fulltime job until it said so...
Hahaha love it. I often do things like that.
Count the razor swipes, 1,2,3.....
Uploaded 11 years ago… still one of the most informative videos on stropping I’ve found.
surely could do better one now (and in higher resolution), just keep it 'round b/c it is by far the top $-maker for YT advert revenues.
I've outfitted myself to attempt to straight razor shave for the first time in my life, so I've been looking at various videos regarding preparation. Your video has been the simplest to understand, and made the most sense to me (the quintessential novice) that I have seen by far. Thanks for making this!
ltcis thanks Itcis.
I find myself coming back again and again to listen to the sounds of the strops in his stropping vids
thanks!
"one of the ways I evaluate a strop is how good of a communicator it is"
This guy strops!
what's better than great strop talky-talky...not much
The smell of cigarettes and the sound of a razor being stropped. Stuff teleports me straight into my childhood
can't believe these words are coming to my fingers but I'm mildly nostalgic about conventional cigarette smoke now what with them being pushed to the edge of society and the vaporthingies taking over with all the cool kids and all that... also I am against Newport etc.'s brands being told they have to terminate for being too successful at selling to a market, if it is a legal product and they're targeting the legal age buyer that ain't fair to me as a capitalist
Today society has giving smoking a negative connotation, yet the only reason people care about smoking is because it raises the cost of health insurance. Remember when doctors smoked. Remember the movie theaters back in the day with all the smokers. Remember when you actually had a smoking section in a restaurant.
Remember when politicians would smoke in the Capital. They smoked behind doors to fight out differences on laws as well as deciding on if our country was going to war.
Oh!. you took me back to my child time❤👍, remembering an indian barber in our city and he used such leather belts for sharpening his razors.
Bet he had skilled hands.
@@thesuperiorshave and you also 👌
@thesuperiorshave you have given me the best advice that I could not find anywhere, not even by myself, I needed to give a lot of leather to my straight and mirror edges, now I have achieved a shave equal to or better than that of a safety razor Thank you very much Sensei!!!👌👍
Well thank you, kind human!!
Oddly enough I looked up this video to show my son what I used to get strapped with when I was a bad boy. After watching the complete video I was pleasantly educated with the greater inner workings of the Barber strap. Well done and thank you for this extremely educational video. Cheers mate !
sounds like dad ran a tight ship!
My WWII vet dad ran a tight ship, but it was a 20th century ship. Didn't have to beat us, although my brother had to be put in the brig a couple of times.
i love the sound of a strop and razor...
Very, very good video. Really like what you say about feedback from the strop - and really useful tips.
thanks!
I really like your common sense attitude. There are so many guys out there thinking that there is one correct way of doing stuff around shaving. I think that if the chaps really using straights 200 yrs ago could rise up and speak they would have lots of fun reading today's shavers comments heheheh.
indeed, starting off with those who were wise enough to have convex hones taking to task their stones' inheritor who "correctly" flattened them :-)
I don’t know why I’m here but I’m not mad about it, I’m learning so much about straight razors I’ll never use 😂
yer here b/c YT's suggestion algorithm knows u better than u know u!
indeed
Perfect demonstration. Thank you
You are welcome!
Thaks for the tip on the two inch strop. I thought the lateral move would lead to problems, as well. Nice to know you can do half the blade and then the other half.
no shelves seem to be developing on my razors doing it this way 7yrs or thereabout
Thank you.:)
gonna learn to use a straight blade now thank you !
Off u go, sir, don't buy shit from China or Pakistan and move the razor perpendicular to the cutting edge, never side to side :-)
Whatever razor you get, learn to shape your hone this way for the best shave possible; ua-cam.com/video/6yvjcMvWOD0/v-deo.html
This is a great video tutorial! I love the "Why behind it" tips. It's always important to know how to do things properly and what happens when you don't. :o)
Wow, thanks for the info man!!- I greatly appreciate it.
***** You're welcome, Slasherman, happy stropping down the road may your pitch be ever high.
Nice video. I just inherited an Anton Berg Eskilstuna from my grandfather, so I decided to look into how to use it (Your video helped a lot). It's got a pretty nasty edge on it, but still surprisingly sharp. I will hunt down a strop, and if I get the hang of it I'm sure I'll save myself some money in the long run, as those gillette sensor blades are very expensive.
Best stropping video I've seen. Thanks!
well thank u! Wish I could give it more resolution but it is the big earner 'round here. Lookin' a lil long in the tooth for my aging eyes, like a mid-00s pre-HD sports clip.
Very informative! Thank you for making and posting this. I really like your turning technique, I will be sure to try it the next time I am stropping.
Peace.
Wonderful instructive video...when learning always buy a cheaper strop first ! When you're accomplished, then buy a really good one 😁
chipping up a newbie's strop's a rite of passage like your first collision between faucet tap and cutting edge :'l
Thanks, helped me sharpen my cooking knife
non-razors should not be kept flush to the leather at the spine, there's various contraptions you can put on the spine to prescribe a bit of crucial and consistent space.
Alright, thanks for the tip
just tryin' 2 matter
Great info, I just bought a straight razor and found out I need to strop it. I got a stropping belt coming in soon so this definitely helped me understand how to do it. Especially, when you mentioned the direction of the blade because I would've done it like if I was sharpening it and would have messed up that leather real good.
happy to help sir
good video. Thanks. I'll probably check it out again when I get my straight razor.
please do in good health
Very informative ,great tips and technics 👍🏻
thanx 4 your kind words!
This is a very very informative video in all manners, the best I have seen actually. Thank you for sharing. Please post more video. Awesome info.
Thos Yeezys look fire
Funny human.
Very informative video tutorial! Thanks...
Glad it was helpful happy shaving 2 u!
TY for the video it was very Informative and you explain the technique in a way that makes it very easy to understand.
+greenmarine5 thanks greenmarine, may u enjoy enough shaves ahead of u to become greymarine
LOL TY unfortunately I already am Grey ( 47) with 3 daughters, any father knows that causes grey hair. I have 3 straights 1 is an ERN one was bought at a garage sale not sure of the make but it's a very good shaver and the third is a Gold Dollar which is a horrible shaver. Anyhow I got my first strop for Christmas this year before I was using an old leather coat and pulling it taught. I will purchase my next strop by your recommendation (walking horse) from the video since obviously you know what you are doing. Again thank you so far you have the best information on youtube even among the hundreds of stropping videos. It wasn't your practical app but your explanation that helped the most.
thanx greenmarine5...incidentally, Walkin' Horse is no more, as getting USA horsebutt for strops is VERY hard to source. Best bet is to search eBay for 'vintage shell strop', the ones sold to the Japanese market are consistently terrific and usually in great shape (though you'll share interest with other bidders every time)
Thank you for the info Much appreciated.
Thanks for this vid. It's the most informative vid I've seen on the subject.
+Ernie Cuello thanx Ernie
How did i jump from sweeney todd to learning how to strop a razor at 3am...
it's the YT suggestor algorithm...my new best friend... he/she/it/they's the only one who knows me better than I know myself! If HSITYT tells me I'm gonna like it, mofo's always right. Dude's straight up annoying at parties, when hsit drinks hsit likes to tell evry1 what they like, but for free, just to prove they're always right. That's why I tell my friends to stay off the you tube.
Happy New Year!
Great video man. Very informative Thank You!
Ty for the demo nice work
thanx for watching, Johnny
Dr. Matt sent me! Great video!
thanks
How high of an angle should your blade be off the strop? You use sound as feedback which is a great idea but should the blade be flush against the leather or raised at an angle just like when you shave? When I change the angle, I get different sounds.
Spine and edge are flush to leather at all times, 0 degrees! Sounds help evaluate applied pressure; less is usually better and never more to the edge than to the spine. I, too, cannot get the same sound in both directions, and I blame that on my skill, I do not believe it is anything to do with the Doppler effect; I'm simply better at this in one direction. Similarly, I am MUCH better at the "coming to me" stroke during honing (non-show side bevel upon stone) than I am on the reverse (show-side bevel upon stone), where I have a hard time even going to the full length of the honing plane let alone getting equal pressure quantity as the other stroke, but even though both are not nearly close to perfect, they're sufficient.
Do you think it's possible the reason your strops end up damaged in one area is because of the action you're using? Would it not be less damaging to use the "pencil rolling method", as you put it?
yes, some tiny lateral bias is cutting the strops, over time. But I will damage a lot of razors dropping them by trying to 'correctly' roll the tang in the fingertips during the flip-over.
Thank you!
You're welcome!
You are a STROPPING young Man!!!!!!
not that young to a tortoise
this way is easier for me too.. like you said my brain just doesn't want to do it the recommended way haha
+Justin Billings Trust me, I've been sending out THOUSANDS of str8rzrs stropped on 2" wide strops and without using the 'perfect X'...it does NOT make a "shelf" or anything of the sort. The razor & your face won't know the difference.
Hello, is the prep side essantial? I have ordered a Herold Solingen 3 inch strop but it doesnt have a linen side I think its time same as dovo strops and like you said they dont make 3 inch with linen side. Do I really need the linen?
def. a non-essential
Great tips.
is it necessary to strop that quickly? Can I get the same results with a slow steady motion?
certainly! Just don't let the razor come to a full stop on the leather if you can, as that's a good way to have it really moving unbeknownst in the wrong direction. I only became a high-speed stropper due the time constraints of a workday, and then it became, for me, better to strop fast than slow, even at home off the clock, due the muscle memories.
Very informative video. Just one question, in addition to stropping, do you also need to hone it or sharpen it every once in a while? And if so, how do you do that? ( sorry im sort of new to this whole straight razor business)
Sam Tunio yes, you must eventually hone. But be aware to at least wait until you remember it shaving you better a few days ago before trying to hone; before that moment, very likely that you, the new user, are the limiting factor to shaving comfort, rather than the keenness or lack thereof upon the blade.
Do you use strop sharpening wax?
You should not impart anything which cuts steel into your daily use strop. Leather balm isn't much of a need here in ultra humid Florida but in dry climates willbe required eventually.
Good pointers
How often is your blade supposed to be stropped? After every use?
Yes, every shave (works best to do BEFORE the shave).
great tips
the leather is more to polish the razor and the canvas is more to remove burrs and other things right? im a student barber and ive been told both that the canvas polishes and the leather removes and vice versa.
yes, more or less - let us describe it as the canvas's job being to prepare the edge to interact with extremely fine/delicate leather.
@@thesuperiorshave How many times should one strope the razor on each side of the leather ?
@@gloomy2830 20 passes on each side should always do the job to realign the edge up after a shave. You can push the keenness a bit with stropping even more but your edge gets fragile over time (like stropping 50 passes on each side after every shave) and wears off quicker so you need to rehone it on a whetstone again. It is basically a trade off where you decide what you like and what is ok for you. I can recommend this site for scientific background scienceofsharp.com/home/
I am looking for a high end razor like that which never needs to be switched out with new razor heads! Can you please help me with this?
Dovo Sunday Shaver
thanks man!
+bluelinenj thanks for watching, this humble lil' video's good for a McDonald's meal a month because of the kindness of folks like you! :-)
Do you only use smooth leather strops? I have one that is rough leather and not sure if that would be eddiquete
surface for daily use should feel smooth and uniform to a blind hand, and in each direction. What you have may be useful for embedded paste strop sharpening, but not for regular daily maintenance.
Thanks for the insite. That makes sense. Much obliged!
@@jordanbeyer7607 "Adequate," "insight..."
@@BRaggles piss off
@@jordanbeyer7607 how rude
i contacted a company based in the uk. but found him to be unhelpful and not interested in giving me his opinion on my questions. which has really put me off on purchasing amything from there company . i was prepared to make a purchase but seeing he showed no interest and cant be bothered attitude i certainly wont be going to him for my first straight razor. i know the purchase is quit high at the very beginning for a novice im just sick of spending money on those cheap nasty throw away razors . im sure in the end the investment will pay for itself in the long run. But would like to know on the option of whats better the dovo , boker or thiers issard . your advice would be greatly appreciated.. by the way i live across the pond in the uk hope your having a great Christmas with your family . happy holidays
I'd recommend Dovo's models 'Dovo Special', 'Pearlex', 'Diamant', "Gentleman', "Forestal', or 'Carpe Diem' (all same razor just looks/scales varies).
It’s not about the money. I think I have spent a thousand dollars on German and soon French cutthroat razors. By no means if you develop a passion for them.
Mist3r CJ; yes, eventually you'll need to hone somehow, either with a whestone or by stropping upon surfaces which are embedded with steel-cutting mediums.
This is the strop I find best for new users, www.thesuperiorshave.com/strops_herold155.html You ONLY need a razor and a strop, all the rest can wait. Dry thoroughly after use and wipe down with thin coat of non-food oil, like mineral oil, to prevent rust. When you reach the point that you say to yourself, "I remember this shaving me better a couple days ago" it is time to buy and use a hone.
Would you happen to know where a fellow could get walkin horse products ? Or any good quality 2.5in. strop for that matter. I just stumbled upon the beauty of the art known as "almost lacerating your jugular whilst shaving" and it seems as though my razor is pulling my skin off on the third go around. Any advice would help, peace brother.
he became an emm dee, just get anything horse from Tony Miller heirloomrazorstrop.com that is better workmanship and maybe not 100% equal hides selection but very very good in any case.
I have an old Illinois 827 strop that my dad had but all the hardware on it isn't shiny anymore with a little rust but still holding up. But what I noticed is that it's held together with a knob that screws on where some strops are sewn. Is it ok to disassemble it and flip the leather over to start new with the other side. It has the fabric piece too.
yes, but it will likely be the opposite side of the dear departed animal (some strops you strop upon the former inside aka the 'split side', others - and most "Illinois" - you strop upon the full/top grain former outside); it may need to be sanded down flat and fine to work well. But def. a possibility for a good stropping plane.
+The Superior Shave thank you sir
hi thanks for showing your technique and explaining the process of stopping. just want to ask your opinion on the boker straight razors. are they any good. Looking on various websites they say there shave ready.. do you believe in your experience that they are shave ready.. or do you think i should get a dovo straight razor instead. . i do like them both and also like thiers issard straight razors.
Boker very hit or miss. TI used to be the best, I don't feel so anymore; grind much thicker than it was. Still pretty things. Dovo's higher end models are fabulous.
The Superior Shave my Boker king cutter was a hit. It came with HHT positive after 30-40 strops right from unboxing. I've seen people using the same model that couldn't cut a tomato (!!!) right out of the box. So I think I understand your point.
For the confused out there. This is not sharpening. You are only taming the bur.
There's not really a 'burr' on straight razors, but the idea is much the same - there's an end line where the metal becomes thin and frayed if you examine it at a high enough magnification, stropping is taking all of these tiny bits and moving them to be shaped so as to be as far from the spine as possible.
Kind of. You’re doing much more than just removing a small burr. Remember, it’s called a STRAIGHT razor for a reason. Stropping helps to reform the edge and keep it shaving sharp.
Hi
Is there really a difference in strops, in terms of the shave?
Will a $20 strop do the same job as a $300 strop?
I’ve tried a few different strips ranging from average price to a $300 strop and I’ve not really noticed any difference .
You pay for quality of life issues mostly, the feedback (touch sense to your fingertips holding the tang and the sounds) and the appearance, but if a blind hand would say that your leather is smooth to the touch and uniform in its feeling, so too will the razor appreciate it.
Unfortunately, most of the strops tanned in PK/CN are simply not that smooth and supple.
I would say on extremely hollow razors that I feel a horse shell strop makes the first stroke or two of the shave feel extra special, but until I put that to a double blind experiment I shall chalk that up to internal bias.
The Strop Whisperer is very informative! Do I need to strop if I have plenty of extra spare blades?
If ever you want to see the effect of a strop, simply prepare a razor perfectly as you can, let it sit 2-3 days, get ready to shave, take a stroke with the razor that rested those days, strop the razor, and try another stroke.
Skills they should teach in high school. Give them.... something useful to focus on.🇺🇸👍🇺🇸 Outstanding info. Greatly appreciated.
i also wanted to ask about a paddle strop as i would probably find that mich easier to work with i do get alot of pain standing up for to long due to a back injury thats in advance for your input.
Much easier to use but always giving up a lot of real estate.
About how many strokes do you recommend on each side? I have been using a straight razor since I was 18, and, of late, I am having real problems keeping it sharp.
this would depend upon the hide and its size, but among common ~3x15" stropping area suede type calfhide strops, 36 laps would be a fine starting point. The last stroke's the most important.
I use a cheap razor with a disposable blade setup. Should I consider stropping it to increase the life of each one?
no
I have a vintage japanese Yasuki special razor, but not matter how much I strop, I have never been able to make it as sharp as the disposable blades, such as Parker Platinum. Is it even possible to strop a straight razor to be as sharp as a disposable razor?
no, not just from the strop
your problem is likely that your bevel form has been made a full flush isosceles triangle, via honing only on flat stones... at the factory they would have produced a bevel which was itself concave, and you can reintroduce this concavity to the bevel by progressively shaping your hones
reset your bevel with a stone shaped to a 2m diameter (down its length), refine that with a 5m dia. middle grit stone, and finish upon a hard fine stone shaped to 8m, you will greatly reduce overall bevel thickness and also reduce the effective cutting angle
maybe you'll still prefer the DE blade experience, but if you never do as I described above, you aren't giving the old blade a fair chance because it isn't being represented as its deceased creators intended
The strop is not made to sharpen. its to tame the bur. stone sharpen the blade
how do I know when it's sharp enough and how many times can I use the razor before I have to sharpen again? I guess that I will get a feeling for it. But maybe you can tell a little from your experiences
as to when is the stropping enough, I just use a rhythym of 8-count time for my strokes like I'm a background musician keeping time with my strop instrument, and I do 4 8-counts of each linen and leather. I suppose 25+ laps on 3" x 12" of meaningful area would be sufficient.
Yes, the 2nd question takes some cooking experience. When it feels less than it was it is time to hone to me. Beginners have trouble differentiating the limiting comfort factor and don't understand it is them not the blade, overwhelmingly likely if sold by a party making their main rep on the sale of European open razors. So IF the vendor has that reputation (as clearly do I), await the shave when u say to yourself "this thing was running better some days ago", that to mean would indicate some experience to discern what they're feeling.
Stropping does NOT sharpen your razor. The reason you practice stropping your razor before or right after a shave is to keep the edge aligned, which is why so many think this is a method to sharpen it. In truth the microscopic edge of your razor becomes nibbled and uneven simply from use. When you strop that removes all the little microscopic jagged burrs a razors edge may get, making it shave much better and closer with less chance of nicking the skin (A straight razors fine edge is actually very delicate, which is what makes a razor so very sharp). Thus is why so many mistake this action for sharpening.
Awesome, thanx man
Good info
thank you!
How does leather sharpen a blade
It doesn't. It just realigns its micro-serratiions at edge to be in furthest opposition to spine6
@@thesuperiorshave microserration?
the tiny bits at the end where the steel begins to fragment away (every Solingen grinder I've spoken to has said not to try and remove "micro-teeth" as they call them).
@@thesuperiorshave razors are literally serrationless blades. thats how they work. think about the action of shaving with a straight razor. you just go down in a line. that is why you need a "razor" sharp edge since serrations only work with horizontal movement
Literally the managing director of the world's largest remaining razor mfgr can be overheard on one of my videos in their factory speaking of the "critical micro-teeth structure", perhaps he's mistaken.
I see a lot of people using the rough side of the leather. how come u use the shiny side?
the leather should feel smooth and flat to a blind hand, for this is how the cutting edge shall evaluate
It seems that you're using a kamisori style razor. As someone that's looking at buying a SE razor soon, why do you prefer a kamisori over a traditional folding blade?
No, these are not kamisori razors. They're regular Western type razors. Kamisoris have some advantages (exotic steels, maximum bevel acuity) and disadvantages (handling is not ambidextrous and honing is atypical), but personally I prefer the Western razor due to being able to master it equally with my left hand.
What's your opinion on Grim Blades aka The Blades Grim?
I'm sorry to report that the examples of this brand which have come to our shop for rehoning have been universally terrible, and I doubt there is a lower quality USA-made modern straight razor...while I'd hope what we've seen was very old attempts, they shouldn't have let their name on them out the door, and the sample size is large enough that I doubt they only represent the earliest productions.
I surely appreciate this!
thank u
can I use my leather weight lifting belt?? looks similar..
It is probably not smooth enough, but evaluate with a blind hand. Pull taut and rub along its surface; does it feel uniform, and most crucially that it feels the same in one direction of hand travel as the other? A good strop leather should be supple, flush to the razor edge, never a hard spot to damage the crucially thin razor edge, and uniform in its sensation in either direction.
Is it essential to use compound on nylon cotton side of strop? Or not
NOT essential in any way
I just got three straight razors from my father. He said I should have them sharpened before I use them since they haven't been used in a couple decades. Where do you suggest that I send them?
+Kierslee what kind of condition are they in now? any rust or pitting anywhere?
I like your guide better than that shave nations guys.
Nice video! Thanks, it is very clear! Now I am wondering if I bought the right thing... :T I have this tender Herold loom strop and I strop the razor tons of times and it doesn't sharpen that much... should I just get a real 3" strop or I should try to work with the Herold strop? Thanks!
nothing wrong w/ your Herold loom, just less square footage, works the same principles. But strops/stropping do NOT sharpen (= remove) steel, they only realign the broken edge to have all fragments pointing neatly as far from the spine as possible. If your razor's not shaving well after thorough stropping on plain leather, try using a whetstone or a dedicated paste-covered strop (such as Dovo's red and black pastes, chromium oxide, diamond spray, etc.)
Great! thank you! I just bought it actually. "Shave ready" I think was the mention. It did shave very well at the beginning but now it's hurting more than shaving hehe (I'm new to this) Obviously I did make some marks on the loom where exactly I did the X shape sigh. But ok, I guess I put too much pressure also ! Thanks for your answer!
I put very little stock in the term 'Shave Ready' without knowing the vendor assigning their name to the statement and especially the brand of the razor. However, even if the razor truly was ready for a good shave, a straight razor edge is tremendously fragile, and unfortunately can easily be compromised with just a few too-obtuse strokes on poorly-prepped beard with substandard lather and a bad stropping...thus, at this point, no matter who honed the razor, you as the limiting factor cannot be ignored as a possibility.
Ooohhh I see... :( shoot I probably stropped it with too much testosterones lol I guess I will give it a 2-300 shots but no pressure and as flat as possible. Like you say in the video at a certain point. My new blade is a Spartacus from Thiers-Issard 5/8 hollow. Thank you so much for your answers, I mean it!
Thanks for the info. Good to get advice from someone who knows. I have a question though. I've seen several videos in this, but no one explains what it means by the strop communicating. What sounds and feelings are you looking for and why?
I guess some sense imparted to your ears and fingertips as to the improvement of the edge condition? When they're really good you will detect tactile vibrations and acoustic queues which indicate the edge's bevel plane is being extended at its microscopically-frayed edge best, and in time via stropping on various pieces you'll be able to detect which of these sounds/feelings impart this and which do not.
The Superior Shave thank you so much for responding! So I guess what you're telling me is that you can't tell me, but I just have to learn from experience? I'm using a board while waiting for my strop to arrive, but I don't feel or hear anything. I do notice a loud "ripping paper" sound when I lift the spine off the leather.
I just can't get it quite as good as when I bought it from a guy who reconditions them, and even builds from scratch. But I guess that's to be expected from a beginner.
Exactly.
I'm sure, given my wordsmithing, with a bit more time to chew on the notion of what it is, I can describe it somewhat.
Yes, stropping well takes some time. You should at least be chasing a higher pitched sound for any two attempts at the same speed and stropping medium; this would indicate that the higher-pitched one's touching lighter, and extending the little "fin" of metal shards to the maximum distance from the spine, as opposed to merely bending it back towards the direction above the stropping plane if using too much pressure.
The Superior Shave thanks again. Just to be sure, no matter what pressure, sound, etc...the spine should always be in contact with the strop though, right? Like I should never lift the spine off the leather to change the angle, but use the pressure on the strop with the spine to get the right angle. Just like honing, the spine sets the angle. Is that correct? Or is it ok to lift the spine a little to the desired angle?
Correct; never to touch the edge w/o strop in simultaneous contact with the spine.
Spine dictates angle; ideal pressure creates best results within the restriction of the one angle choice.
Do you keep the spine of the razor pressed against the stropp while stropping, or do you stropp the blade at a more aggressive angle? It's hard to tell because you're doing it so fast in your videos, lol.
hi Chuck...the cardinal rule in stropping; that spine ALWAYS must remain flush to leather when edge is also in contact with leather. If ever there's a moment when the edge is touching the leather and the spine is off the leather, you'll have imparted a stropping angle more obtuse than the bevel planes' natural angle as dictated by the spine-to-edge geometry - and almost certainly need a new honing at that point, but perhaps you'll luck out and one hearty stropping session would erase the error.
TheSuperior Shave Thanks for your prompt response.
Regards,
Chuck
I tried over and over and my razor just isnt getting sharp. What am i doing wrong
I would first question the steel/temper, and if you are sure that is fine, think about the angle of approach of your sharpening medium; ua-cam.com/video/SBXWeA4koX0/v-deo.html
Buenas, pregunta, tengo que esperar un afeitado similar al de una maquinilla? Porque por más que afile y pula con amor no logro un filo y afeitado similar o igual al de cualquier maquinilla comercial
No quiero perder el tiempo buscando lo que no se logra
Muchas gracias
¿Tal vez pruebe una piedra de afilar convexa, para que el borde cortante sea cóncavo y no plano?
@@thesuperiorshave Is it possible to achieve a shave equal to or better than that of a safety razor? thank you
yes, key word "possible"
it requires great skill, especially in stropping, but when done successfully, a uniquely satisfying post-shave feeling knowing you conquered the mountain
Thanks you very much mate!👌👍 @@thesuperiorshave
@@thesuperiorshave me has dado los mejores consejos que yo no pude encontrar en ningún lado ni siquiera por mí mismo, me faltaba darle mucho cuero a mis filos rectos y espejo, ahora sí he logrado un afeitado igual o mejor al de una safety razor
Muchas gracias Sensei!!!👌👍
how often to sharpen it for the use for a daily barber
+Chris ram there are a lot of factors involved here, mostly how good the barber is at stretching, prepping the beards, and keeping angle of incidence of blade to skin nice and low with short, repetitive baby strokes...we have a few full time barbers here in Jacksonville that use the real kind and they all have at least 2 pcs (so that one be being sterilized while another in use, you must soak in the solution at least 20 min and must always take a sterilized blade to the strop and then on to client, not to strop again, as there is no way to sterilize the leather), a strop, and a Belgian coticule stone. I have taught them to use water or lather only for their coticules and to touch the stone just a few swipes between each client as the best way to keep any major re-honing away.
I keep cutting into the side of my strop because my straight razor is longer than the strop and i'm a newbie :-(
I try to think of the left/right oscillations a separate event than the up and down, and I just for a long time randomly moving between the two extremities like playing an early 80s paddle video game
On average how often do you need to strop? After 1 shave 5 shaves? I understand it probably depends on how the razor is cutting, but on average?
it should be performed just prior to each shave
What is the advantage of a hanging strop vs a paddle strop?
The full control of tension, and just more real estate (yes, there are loom paddle strops like Dovo's new one and Herold 57Rri but they're much smaller and $/leather ratio a lot worse).
Do you "need" to use anything else to strop a straight razor? Like a paste or any other product?
+Mist3r CJ no, I have for five years now only used coticule (with water) + strop + leather fat
do new straight Razor need to be honed, or stropping will make them sharp enough for shaving?
+Tyh Tre very brand dependent, but my professional opinion's that the vast majority of Dovos and NTS-Solingen need nothing more than a hearty stropping. Other brands we carry require more work here in the shop, Golddachs & Boker being very bad about the edges they ship among what we carry.
What does stropping do to a straight razor? Does it sharpen it after a shave?
No sharpening. It only re-aligns the razor's wafer-thin breaks on its edge to all be pointing in the same direction (the maximum distance from the spine). Officially the Germans believe you should *not* strop after the shave, by the way, as it fatigues the razor and shortens its lifespan (unofficially many think this is like quarreling of the ice water coming off a glacier).
So if it gets dull would i buy a new razor or sharpen the blade like I would a knife? And thank you so much for the help.
You don't buy a new razor, you just resharpen it, which can also be done by stropping by using a specific sharpening-only strop which would have its surface impregnated with any of a variety of extra fine steel-cutting agents.
The Superior Shave okay, thank you so much for all of your help.
This is complicated it almost isn't worth it to make the switch from disposable gillete razors.
What is the benefit of a straight razor? In other comments you mentioned you're not sharpening the blade with the leather, then what exactly are you doing? What is the lifetime of a straight razor? I'd imagine the blades have to be sharpened, how and how often? Do they need to be sanitized after each use? etc. etc.... is there a guide to start shaving with this non-traditional way?!
Correct, no sharpening via stropping, if sharpening is defined as removing steel as to make a new {possibly finer?} cutting edge.
Stropping only realigns the tiny metal shards all to be as far away from the spine of blade as possible.
Too many variables to define how quickly and how often the resharpening must occur - it is a very fragile item, as fragile as an edge of aluminum foil (and as thin!) If all goes well, you can only strop for several months of regular use.
A blade used only on yourself is not introduced any new bloodborne pathogens if only your tissue has interacted with the blade. A straight razor is for personal use. If buying used, the bare minimum you should do is douse blade with isopropyl alcohol.
We use a straight razor by preference not only for the results, but for the enjoyment of the process.
Here is an excellent guide; www.dovo.com/pdf/dovo_bro_leitfaden_rasur_EN.pdf
As he said, the stropping is more for realigning the tiny edge of the blade from shaving. You don't need to sharpen them very often at all and resharpening a blade might cost you $40 or so if you don't learn yourself. As for the advantages I'd say there are objective and subjective advantages. As far as subjective goes, a lot of people really enjoy it. A lot of people who start using straight razors or wet shaving in general say it goes from being a chore and pain the butt in the morning to a relaxing part of their daily routine instead. They enjoy sitting down and having a nice shave. As for the objective benefits? Its the cleanest shave you can possibly get and it can be a heck of a lot cheaper than cartridges or even disposables. There are only 2 recurring costs and that is with face soaps and sharpening. If you get a sharpening stone and learn yourself, then all you have to do is buy the soap. Straight razors are more expensive than cartridge razors up front, but as for the lifetime you asked about? People resell razors from when before safety razors were invented to this day. The other day I saw one for sale that was first produced in the 1870s and had undergone a few maintenance changes through the early 1900s, for about $20. If you take care of your blades, they'll be good enough to shave your grandkids.
As a safety razor user. I must say that disposable razors don't give a good shave and the oldschool method of Safety and straight razor shaving is better economically and environmentally. Shaving with a straight or Safety razor is more about a great quality shave and saving in the long run. As one said its pride in your work and a great shave. That's what its about!
Just get a safety razor if you dont want to strop
I use one now and again. The reasons (what is the benefit?):
When it works, it works very very well.
There is something almost zen about the experience. You're focused, relaxed. It turns something you have to do into a pleasant experience.
I like doing things myself: I fix my own cars, most of the stuff around the house.
It's just a richer experience: I've learned a lot about metallurgy, skin, etc...
I have also bought old razors on ebay and restored them- there is something satisfying about using something that was made in the 1920's and having it perform really well.
It's about as renewable as you can get - you don't throw anything away. A straight razor, properly maintained will last multiple generations.
The really good straight razors, even from long ago, were the pinnacle of metallurgy and craftsmanship. Like samurai swords.
We're in way too much of a hurry. And to do what? Check your phone for the 10000th time during the day. Inefficient? Inconvenient? - That's the point.
We're turning into a society of users, who don't understand (or be able to fix) the things we use. If this is silly, then so is growing your own vegetables, mowing your own lawn, fixing your own car, etc...
I work in high technology - sometimes it's nice to retreat to 100 years ago.
The short answer about stropping is that it realigns the edge and doesn't remove metal. The longer answer is that some think that there is actually very slow flow of metal towards the edge, that on a microscopic level it reshapes the edge. You do have to re-hone the blade periodically (maybe a couple of times a year).
Sanitizing - I just wipe it with alcohol..
What is your opinion on Balm Paste? Do you need it?
are these straps mandatory for owning a decent razor? or can i achieve a good enough outcome with wet stones and stuff like that
unfortunately a straight razor will require a strop for daily use, honing and stropping are two different things
Why strop in the first place ?
prepare your razor ideally on your hone but do not strop, begin to shave, pause in the middle of the shave (to strop), continue shaving...you now have your answer
Do you have to use a stone first?
It depends upon what condition the cutting edge was in.
But once properly prepared (the cutting edge), no.
I’ve searched high & low and can’t find a Walkin’ Horse strop anywhere nor is there a site for them. Is Trey still making? Gorgeous strop though 👌🏻
long gone, sorry. Horween horsebutts and cordovan-tanned shells, but anyone w/ horsebutt or shell hides is a great strop
Stropping nice :) but //// Which one the best?
Vintage horse shell strops in ideal condition are to me the greatest strops that were ever made.
Good luck finding them, and I will be bidding with you if you do :-)
They are so good it is worth trying to buy old beat up pieces with bad pictures for low bid, get some fine sandpapers and saddle soap and vegetable oil, see if you can revive them.
From modern production 1) any Horween cordovan shell 2) Dovo "XL" is tremendous calfhide.
Thank you very much for the detailed answer!
www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Horse-Hide-Barber-Strop-Illinois-Razor-963-Indian-Pony-Shell-Cordovan-/253027483396?hash=item3ae99cff04:g:5GYAAOSwcj5ZVJRo
I have one of these exact strops and it is absolutely fantastic(nothing like the modern crap from Illinois), though this one looks like a LOT of work to make perfect again I do believe from those pictures that that piece can successfully be revived via sandpaper, saddle soap, and vegetable oil.
This is good.
thank u
where can i buy stuff like this? its so interesting :)
www.thesuperiorshave.com/strops.html
i keep my razor stropp at my bathroom, the steam from a hot showers affects it?
Depends a lot on the leather type and how tanned. Not a great idea in a small bathroom but some leathers will be okay w/ it. If you use "split side" type (suede) leathers I would absolutely *NOT* recommend to keep them in the b-room. More humid it gets the leather, more the leather will want to re-assume its old shape when on the dearly departed sacrificial animal.
Hi, I want to purchase a straight razor for my bf and I have no idea about this. Which razor and strop do yo recommend?
if he has real thick fingertips, this razor; www.thesuperiorshave.com/straight_razors_dovo_bismarck_26810.html
if normal size fingertips, any "polished" razor you see here, all shave is same you're just picking wood type(and stainless/regular, get regular unless he can't be bothered to keep his razor bone dry after use); www.thesuperiorshave.com/straight_razors_ntssolingen.html
I am partial to snakewood, but look over the pcs, maybe some other wood we have a really nice specimen?
this is best first strop to me; www.thesuperiorshave.com/strops_herold155.html
Don't buy anything made in Pakistan.
how often do you have to strop?
before every shave!
I've seen people using a stone. Is that the same thing as doing this?
no, it isn't