The Stropping Young Lad

In his continuing quest to return to the Arts and Crafts era before the Great War, my younger son crafted a razor strop today, complete with a steel swivel. The swivel started the day as a plain steel rod, and then found itself heated by a torch and twisted around and around to resemble a vaguely bug-like clothes hanger. Here is my son's strop (top) beside a soulless store-bought strop.



The strop has a cloth side, for removing corrosion and performing light honing.



The strop also has a leather side, for smoothing and shaping the razor's edge.


You may note that my son is not fastidious about matching his socks.

This evening antique straight razors and a shaving brush litter my kitchen table. This is not remarkable for my household, which frequently appears to be caught in a time warp.