Thread: Strokes on Strop

Razorfeld,

You are correct. Yes, the razor moves diagonally, with the spine, of course, and with the toe leading, and returning in the opposite way. So, sure, in essence, your X-stroke is partially minimized. This stroke is also most comfortable for me to manipulate the razor between thumb and index finger as if I had a pencil in hand.

Also, since the wrist is locked, my stropping motion is smooth and refined, thus allowing me to increase my stroke counts to, usually, 50/150 without putting additional stress on my wrist. Sometimes I have caught myself stropping some 200 times on leather, because, as I noted, I enjoy stropping. As long as you strop correctly, the additional strokes are not going to hurt.

Will the higher count prepare my edge better than a lower count? No, of course not. Who is to say? Find a linen and leather strop ratio, whether low or high, that works best for you. What matters most is being diligent about stropping — and stropping correctly.

Going to adjust to your method. I've been doing a figure eight motion which is effective in essence but lousy when the pivot hole isn't firm and the scales flop back and forth. Not about to stop and tighten up a pivot pin right before I'm going top shave a face full of lather. Seems like your method will keep the blade and scales in moe of a locked position than not.

About the refreshing part,
When I first started I had to use CrOx about once a week and a 12k refresh about once a month.
As my stropping and shave technique improved, the time between refreshes got longer.
I'm about 4 months into the shaving with a straight and it has been about a month since I used CrOx.
YMMV.