week two, strop is ruined?

I suck at stropping. Brushing soap on is fine, shaving going great and I've followed almost all beginner advice, including a 4 month prep with brush, soap, safety razor prep phase. Got my Hart Steel 6/8 and leather strop 2 weeks ago. I've nicked the hell outta the strop, always on the "rollover on the spine". it looks like i'm doing it right, but it's obviously not. got over 15 small nicks at the top and scrapes on bottom, middle is fine.
Is it dangerous to the blade at this point? should i ditch it? is there a way to fix it?
Mike

Hey Mike,
If you do a search on the top right of this page you will find MANY threads on how to repair your strop.
It is something almost all of us have done. As long as you didn't take chunks out of it.... it "should" be fine

no chunks, just did the search...after my post like atotal noob, which i loathe! pumice stropping, palm of hand, got it! thanks :)

And slow down.

Go to a fabric store and buy a yard of the widest nylon, with the finest weave they have, should be 3-5 bucks and probably about 2 inches wide.

Strop on nylon, until you get the hang of stropping. Nylon is very hard to cut or nick.

Keep the spine on the strop at all times and stop before you flip and SLOW down. 60 laps per minute is plenty fast. The nylon will give you as good or better edge, until you perfect your stropping technique. Later you can paste your nylon strop.

I used to get feather slices (like paper cuts) on my strop edges near where I flipped the razor no matter how careful I tried to strop. What finally stopped the nicking was holding the razor very loosely so the razor could pivot and keep its contact even along the length of the blade. I also tried to keep pressure on the strop very light as if the razor was moving and flipping by itself with only it's weight on the leather and that weight spread equally along its length and across its width. I also go slow, about 1 - 2 seconds per trip and travel about 10 inches each direction to help with control. Pay attention to the tactile feed back and sound. If the leather strop starts feeling gritty, wipe the blade and strop surface.

I find it easiest to strop on a 3 inch wide strop as none of the blade needs to over hang the strop edges making it easy to keep contact with the blade evenly distributed.

If I got a small leather flap cut, I glued it down with Tightbond glue and immediately wiped away all residues using a damp cloth and let the glue dry. I sanded the feather cuts. After cleaning the strop, the cuts became shallow with rounded edges that did not catch on the razor. After weeks of stropping, most of them have disappeared or have become almost invisible.

I found when I started, and had tgis same issue, it was due to the blade moving into the leather during the flip. It's very minute, and happens due to poor form on the flip. Really focus on making sure the blade edge is always moving away from the leather. There is no need to rush, so slowing things down really helps as well. Once you get the right motion, speed will pick up. I bought a konyama 90,000, and only recently started using it because I'm so fearful of damaging it. It could also be from too much pressure. I've found that less is more when it comes to stropping. On a good strop you can literally feel the edge getting smoother, similar to when honing with light pressure on a finishing stone. Good luck!

At the flip, make sure the razor is going in the new direction before the razor edge touches down again, you'll never cut the strop once you get that down. Practice with a dull razor shaped object like a butter knife, you will build some muscle memory without cutting the strop

If it makes you feel better, I went through 2 strops in the first month. I finally stopped slicing up third one after another month. My fourth strop is still nick free after 10 months.

I hope I didn't just jinx myself...

The trick with the flip is to not touchdown the edge onto the leather until you have started to travel in the new direction.

yep going to fast , just slow down . maybe lay your strop on a table and use it like a bench strop till you learn how to strop, if your cutting it your not stopping the motion before you flip . slow is good any way tc

"SLOW DOWN" Don't hold your strop overly taut, allow a little slack in the leather, make a slow lap and watch the razor's edge hug the leather as you vary the amount of slack in the strop, adjust the tautness of the strop accordingly. Use a light touch and don't force the razor down into the strop. Allow the edge to glide across the leather.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 32t

And slow down.

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+1

From the way you describe the area where you nick the strop, I suspect that you turn the razor while the blade is still moving.

Slow down.
In straight shaving there are no prices to be won for speed.

(That's left to the You Tube crowd who are keen to impress their clueless friends after a few cans of beer. I have seen some very hasty, slipshod shaves there and always wondered whom the guy was trying to impress. )


B.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 32t

And slow down.

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Yes as a beginner myself you must go slow at first. Going slow gets the job done just as well is going fast.

Roger

I think most of us have nicked a strop or two when learning. I know I have. One strop I will never part with is a very nice 3 inch English bridle that still displays my early efforts (and nicks). I could replace the leather but won't.

I took a look at my barber's strop that hangs from the chair and his is nicked, scratched, and very well worn. He has been at it for 40+ years.

Slow down until you get the hang of it.

It is kinda a right of passage to ding the first strop for me. I'm on my third with no dings finally. :rofl2:

If I can go a year or so with no dings I will move up in strops. :y

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jmercer

It is kinda a right of passage to ding the first strop for me. I'm on my third with no dings finally. :rofl2:

If I can go a year or so with no dings I will move up in strops. :y

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The (straight shaver's) three most common lies:
1. You are the first girl I truly fell in love with.
2. The check is in the mail.
3. I never nicked my strop.


If the damage is only superficial and isolated, the strop may still be perfectly usable and you could wait till you really proficient and replace the strop later.

The nice thing about many SRD strops is that you can replace the stropping leather (while keeping the end parts) at around ⅔ of the price of a new strop.
That way you can make all your little mistakes disappear and start anew.


B.

Stay with it. I ruined my first strop, practiced cutting the same spot on my face daily and had to send my Hart out to get resharpened because of my awesome stropping skills. Oh, I banged my Boker off the facet and had to get it fixed too. Slow down with the stropping, make deliberate passes on your leather and you will be fine.

When a pro got my Hart for honing he did say that it wasn't in great shape from the get go. It might be worth asking one of the experts on the site to hone your Hart while you are waiting for you new strop to arrive. I found that my Hart shaved much better after being honed by one of our guys than it did when I first received it.

As a new straight razor shaver myself I also learned the hard way about going too fast with too much pressure.

RIP Premium Leather I strop by SRD.

One thing I noticed I kept doing even when going slow was letting the razor come back towards me at the end of my wayward (that word works for this right?) stroke and nicked it every time. Not sure if this is a popular technique but I corrected it by starting to lift on the spine before stopping that direction of movement and also making sure I was going the next direction before the edge came back in contact with the leather.

don't go lifting the spine , that is not correct. as you start your flip get the blade moving the other direction then lay the edge down. go slow or just stop and do the flip tc

Meant to say lift the edge before stopping and then lay it down after moving the other direction. The spine is always in contact with the leather. Sorry for the confusion.