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Strop care?

I have a strop I bought about 2 years ago. Going to start using it again and wondering if I need to do anything to it.

Dovo 2" X 16" leather and canvas

Never put anything on it. Leather is still VERY soft and smooth almost like suede. I learned on this strop so there were nicks on each end I had to remove with high grit sandpaper.

When should I use the canvas side, and do I need to prepare it?

How come stropping makes noise when you see videos of it? I thought there wasn't supposed to be pressure, just rest the razor on the strop. Am I being way to light when I strop if I don't' hear anything?
 
Hi

when the leather is still soft and smooth, there is no real reason to apply strop paste.

Many people, myself included, apply strop paste (non abrasive !) to the leather side to increase draw, but this is not mandatory.

The sound of the blade while stropping depends quite a bit on the grind of the blade. I can't tell for wedge blades, but normally there is some slight "swishing" sound to be heard. Please note that the micro of a camcorder will strongly amplify the stropping sounds in a quiet environment, so what you hear in the video is not a true representation of the "real" loudness.

For your technique: as long as you are able to successfully maintain your razors sharpness with your stropping technique, everything is fine. I only apply enough pressure to keep the razor flat on the strop, this is basically weight of razor plus a tiny little bit.

Best regards,
-axel-
 
How come stropping makes noise when you see videos of it? I thought there wasn't supposed to be pressure, just rest the razor on the strop. Am I being way to light when I strop if I don't' hear anything?

Some strops are just loud. My Dovo strop is silent but all my Illinois strops are very loud, and my Craftsman vintage strop is fairly loud as well. Hollow ground razors can also be quite loud.
 
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