Using a Stropping Board

[pixelfixed]

Leather being a natural material will never be perfect and changes with weather conditions such as humidity.
I use well worn DMT plates up to 1000 grit on my strops,they are dead flat when finished.
By using an X pattern stroke on any strop, you will get full coverage to the blade edge,thinking that using a wide strop and just up and down strokes is wrong IMO as the stropping surface changes all the time esp with hanging strops,Just my two cents.

[gssixgun]

By using an X pattern stroke on any strop, you will get full coverage to the blade edge, thinking that using a wide strop and just up and down strokes is wrong IMO as the stropping surface changes all the time esp with hanging strops,Just my two cents.

Wanna yell that from the rooftops please...

[pixelfixed]

Wanna yell that from the rooftops please...

I have a bad cold and a sore throat,no yelling today

[Mephisto]

Interesting, though the wider the surface the less exaggerated or defined the X stroke needs to be, right?

[athair]

My understanding was that no surface is completely even/smooth/level and that if you are running the same exact point on the edge over the same bump or dip with every pass (more likely with a straight up and down path) then your edge isn't going to be very uniform across it's entire length.

[souschefdude]

Wanna yell that from the rooftops please...

Please elaborate. If the strop is wide enough to cover the whole blade, then why do X strokes?

[edhewitt]

Please elaborate. If the strop is wide enough to cover the whole blade, then why do X strokes?

Because if the strop isnt flat you won't strop the whole blade ie convex strop - blade.centre.stropped, concave strop - blade edges stropped, doing an x will mean that the whole blade should contact at least part of the strop.
Hope that is right, that's my understanding of it.

[kwlfca]

I strop on air. It's always flat.




I have the same little paddle strop. I find it to be too short, which makes me want to use it less.

[pfries]

I strop on air. It's always flat.

I just use the pyramid power sharpening technique, no stropping necessary!

[gssixgun]

Please elaborate. If the strop is wide enough to cover the whole blade, then why do X strokes?

Also keep in mind that the X stroke is not the only pattern,, the lesson here as with honing, regardless of the size of the Hone or Strop straight up and back strokes are not that great of an idea...
But as always they are your razors so do as you please, we can only tell you what we have learned over years of experience, whether people chose to accept it is up to them..