this post was submitted on 12 Oct 2024
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Straight Razors

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Straight razor use, honing and restoration

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Looking for info about strops (self.straight_razors)
submitted 1 month ago by walden to c/straight_razors
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I do realize that this is a bit like asking "what's the best razor?", but what strop should I start with for my imminent Moarteen Koraat?

All I know about strops is they come in leather, cotton, probably some other materials... and I seem to remember hearing denim works fine.

I'm in the USA, but buying from overseas isn't out of the question.

Thanks!

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[โ€“] djundjila 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

On a more serious note, If you have not yet used a strop and straight for a significant amount of time, don't get a nice strop. You will nick it. Your first strop should be cheap enough that you don't mind if it gets ruined before you get good at stropping.

This is not to say that stropping is difficult in any way. It's not. It's just that you're doing a very repetitive action daily. That's boring and you'll automatically try to do it fast, and every little slip-up makes a nick that goes click twice with every lap from now on. You can try to carefully trim flapping pieces of leather from the nick and sand in smooth, but in never really goes back to a fully smooth draw.

I was impatient and got myself a really nice strop after a month or two of using straights, and I regretted it.

So my recommendation is not to treat this like a starter razor where it makes sense to choose something good that lives long.

[โ€“] HomeAwayFromHone 2 points 1 month ago

Ha, my first strop made it through unscathed. My first nick was on my second strop once I'd had it a while and gotten complacent. Complacency is what really kills strops so I look at it as meditation and try to be present with it, and indeed whenever I'm waving a fragile and very sharp edge around.