Strop Setup For New Straight User

So I've decided that I will try a straight soon after a few years of DE shaving.

I have a question about strop setup.

Would a 3" leather strop and two balsa blocks each loaded with CrOx and diamond spray respectively work for maintaining my edge between professional honing? How long should a new straight user expect the edge to last by using these items? Also, how often would I need to use the balsa blocks if I am stropping on leather before every shave?

Is there something else that works better than balsa for a new straight user? Should I be looking at pasted leather instead? I saw the SRD modular strop...that looks great but is beyond my budget at this point.

Finally, whats the difference in terms of performance between a latigo leather strop and a bridle one?

I just got my first straight back from Larry at Whipped Dog and am planning to have my first straight shave soon. I'm planning to order his poor man's strop kit as a starter and go from there.

See answers below.

cvac said:

So I've decided that I will try a straight soon after a few years of DE shaving.

I have a question about strop setup.

Would a 3" leather strop and two balsa blocks each loaded with CrOx and diamond spray respectively work for maintaining my edge between professional honing?
Yes

How long should a new straight user expect the edge to last by using these items?
Depends on your shaving and stopping technique, but I would think if properly maintained, it should last a year.

Also, how often would I need to use the balsa blocks if I am stropping on leather before every shave?
Only when you see a slight degradation in blade performance.

Is there something else that works better than balsa for a new straight user?
I use pasted leather, but Balsa will work very well.

Should I be looking at pasted leather instead?
No need to if you already have the balsa, plus balsa is cheaper

I saw the SRD modular strop...that looks great but is beyond my budget at this point.
Finally, whats the difference in terms of performance between a latigo leather strop and a bridle one?
I have never tries Latigo, so I can not answer that.

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My advice would be to make sure that you do not buy an expensive strop. You will nick your first strop and that's normal. Some vendors sell what we call "practice strops" which are as good.

To maintain the edge, you could also look for a barber hone. Those are fairly cheap and will put a shave ready edge.

Latigo tends to be a waxier leather than bridle, from what I've seen on my two examples of latigo and one of bridle. Unfortunately, I've had some issues with my latigo strop that make it a bad reference, while the other one I have is a bit on the rough side. Bridle has great, smooth draw for me and is my second favourite strop. My favourite is kangaroo leather, so far.

I highly recommend getting a practice/very inexpensive strop. I was sure this was just meant for everyone else, as there was no way the I was going to cut my strop. Thankfuly, I ended up getting the starter set from Whipped Dog...razor, strop and balsa hone. I recommend this deal highly (No affiliation, kick back, etc. etc.). The balsa is already pasted, and comes with extra pigment and INSTRUCTIONS. I find myself using the balsa abour once a week to refresh the edge. And yes, the strop was nicked several times...still usable but I would have been devastated to cut into an expensive strop the second day I had it.

Mark

When you first start out you edges may not last past your first stropping...to that end I would hate for you expect an edge to last very long in the beginning as you learn. That being said I strop on CBN and diamond about once a week to refresh an edge on a western, but on my new kamisori the edge hits the ssprays every 3rd or 4th shave...mostly due to my inexperience with using one and stropping one. Kamisori edges are supposed to go for a longer than 4 shaves, but *shrug*

I had the same questions as you starting up, as I didn't want to buy stones and learn to hone, and honemeisters charge an arm and a leg...if you send your razors out more than once a year it costs more than DE shaving with Feathers...

So...I would say you will likely need to get your first razor rehoned at last once in the first year, maybe more depending on how careful you are with the edge....but more likely you will love straight shaving and will want to learn to hone your own .

My 2c



Would a 3" leather strop and two balsa blocks each loaded with CrOx and diamond spray respectively work for maintaining my edge between professional honing? How long should a new straight user expect the edge to last by using these items? Also, how often would I need to use the balsa blocks if I am stropping on leather before every shave?

I would suggest starting with a narrower strop. It will cost less, but more importantly, it will require you the learn muscle memory to strop with a correct X stroke. As others have said, don't spend a fortune on your first one. In reality you probably need only one balsa strop. I use CrOx. It is cheaper and (IMO) gives a smoother edge. With good technique that should keep you going for a year or more.

Is there something else that works better than balsa for a new straight user? Should I be looking at pasted leather instead? I saw the SRD modular strop...that looks great but is beyond my budget at this point.

Leather works fine, I prefer balsa. That is a YMMV. Heck, if you make your own try both.

Finally, whats the difference in terms of performance between a latigo leather strop and a bridle one?

Latigo has more oil, so it tends to be a heavier draw. Again, YMMV. They both work, and when you are learning these subtle differences are less important than just practising with what you have.

What legion and kentos said, I'd say you'll probably need to touch up on pastes once a week

I'm about two weeks in to straight shaving. Get the poor man's strop get from whipped dog! I would have hated myself if I had gotten a 3" strop and subsequently ruined it.

I beat the heck out of my strop the first couple of times. I also nicked my blade a bit being careless and was able to get it out with the balsa wood (200ish passes) and stropping.

or you can get this strop from star shaving... http://shop.starshaving.com/2-Wide-1-Black-Latigo-Leather-Strop-0064.htm

~15$ very very good quality... excellent customer service.... fast shipping.... i used one for a loooooooooooooong time until last week i had a stropping error and had to buy a new one....

i purchased from star shaving this one.... http://shop.starshaving.com/3-Wide-Big-Daddy-1-Burgundy-Leather-Strop-Made-In-the-USA-0072.htm

~40$ something shipped........ EXCELLENT quality.... came with a felt strop attached.... great draw.... beautiful work........

and he always sends a free sample of something with your order.....

cvac said:

So I've decided that I will try a straight soon after a few years of DE shaving.

I have a question about strop setup.

Would a 3" leather strop and two balsa blocks each loaded with CrOx and diamond spray respectively work for maintaining my edge between professional honing?

Click to expand...

Yes, that would be a most excellent kit. The bigger the balsa, the easier to use.

cvac said:

How long should a new straight user expect the edge to last by using these items?

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Depends on you. Four months is a good initial goal. As you get better, this can increase to basically indefinitely. A pasted strop is not much use for bringing back a badly abused or damaged edge. Also it is actually possible to make your edge worse if you don't use good technique. But same can be said for unpasted stropping as well as shaving and general handling of the razor. But once I hone my razors once, I usually never have to hone them again. When I do, it is just to experiment with something, or if I was careless with the blade.

cvac said:

Also, how often would I need to use the balsa blocks if I am stropping on leather before every shave?

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Depends. You could concievably hit the CrOx after every shave, about a dozen laps. Then strop on unpasted leather before shaving. You then would probably only need to hit the diamond maybe weekly or every other week, and only a dozen laps or so. Or you can do both every few days or once a week. You have to let your own experience and results be your guide. To start with, maybe set aside one day of the week for pasted stropping of all your razors. Don't overdo it. You should never need more than a few dozen laps.

cvac said:

Is there something else that works better than balsa for a new straight user?

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Hard to beat balsa if it is very flat and smooth, and has a large stropping surface. I like it wide enough for the entire edge to rest on the strop. But currently I am using leather. Not much difference, in my experience. I just read a manual written by a very famous and respected kamisori honer who mentions a wooden block covered with wool cloth and doctored with CrOx powder. Maybe even silk would work. If you got balsa, you are fine with sticking to that.

cvac said:

Should I be looking at pasted leather instead? I saw the SRD modular strop...that looks great but is beyond my budget at this point.

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Pasted leather is in my mind not superior to pasted balsa, given similar stropping surface area, and flattness and smoothness. However there are certain situations where perhaps a hanging strop pasted with CrOx might be better, such as taming a "too-sharp" edge, such as you might get from honing on .3u lapping film. Mostly, though, toss-up on material but stick to a bench or paddle strop.

cvac said:

Finally, whats the difference in terms of performance between a latigo leather strop and a bridle one?

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Not much at all. Just a matter of personal preference, feel, and technique I guess. They draw differently but both will do a fine job.

Oh I forgot to +1 the suggestion to start out with a cheap beginner's strop to catch all your beginner's slices. Larry's Poor Man Strop Kit (www.whippeddog.com) is a good option. If the strop doesn't get slashed up too badly while you are learning, it will serve you well as a travel strop after you upgrade to something like the cheap but excellent "Big Daddy" from www.starshaving.com. The Big Daddy is cheap but don't know if I would consider it cheap enough to sacrifice to the learning process. How deep are your pockets? Also the poor man kit comes with a pasted balsa block. Just sayin.

The Catch-22 of straight razor maintenance is that when you know what you're doing your edge will last a long time and be simple to refresh, whereas when you don't know what you're doing you can (and probably will) dull it very quickly. I'd go so far as to say that until you know what you're doing, you won't really have a concept as to what terms such as degradation of performance actually mean. A seasoned veteran can get months of use from his blade relying solely on daily stropping. When you're starting out, you can dull the blade midshave. That's all part of the learning curve.

But don't despair! Just start, and you'll figure this all out yourself.

I'd suggest a 2 1/2# strop to start. They're easy to use and resist cupping. As for material, I think it comes down to individual pieces of leather as much as the tanning/treatment processes. Again, it will take some time before you can find your preference. Strops will last a very long time with minimal care, the most important thing being that you don't nick it. I reckon I must go through close to 100,000 strokes a year, and a single misstep can be disastrous. When you can reliably strop for a year without a mistake, you'll be impressed with yourself.

A good recommendation is a Tony Miller strop. You may be too new to realize that he stopped producing his gems for the longest time, and there is no guarantee that he won't do that again. Get a strop plus one of his practice strops as an option. Hang your new strop and admire it.. Wear it around your neck like a scarf. Sleep with it. Buckle it into the passenger seat of your car and take it for a drive. But don't use it until you feel completely comfortable using the practice strop. If you don't enjoy this, you can sell the main strop as new for very little loss, if any. If he stops making them, you can sell it for more. If you enjoy this, you'll have a strop for life.

Paddle strops are fun and easy to use, but it's hard to beat the value of a balsa strop. I bought a 3"x1/4"x36" piece of balsa at an art supply shop for three bucks, and it's enough to make three or four strops. It takes well to both pastes and sprays, and will keep you going nicely between honings. If you keep with this, you will learn to hone your own blade, and you won't consider it a chore.

Have fun! It's an adventure.

+1 on the TM and a practice strop. I have been straight shaving for years and the new TM strop I treated myself to is still hanging and being admired and a blade has not touched it yet.

I was thinking on made this kind of post..