Thread: Hard to grip/turn boker edelweiss when stropping

Thank you for all of your replies and enouraging words.

Thank you Cau. Did you have the version with bone or elforyn ivory? I have the elforyn ivory scales and it seems a little slippery. Is bone the same way?

I have a slightly off topic question. I read that tightening the pivot pins on ivory is risky. Is elforyn (faux) ivory the same way? Thanks.

Originally Posted by Ponypox

Thanks for your replies. As for stropping, Im still extremely new at it and I would like to know if your suppose to flip the razor using just your fingers on the tang or can I use my pinkie to help flip using the scales too. On a side note, I notice the faux ivory on my edelweiss is rather slippery. Is faux ivory a popular material for scales despite that?

I use all of my fingers. My thumbpad is on the bottom (narrow part) of the tang. The pad or fingertip of my forefinger is on the top of the tang opposite my thumb. The scales are gently resting on the middle finger, ring finger, and little finger. Those three don't assist in the flip as much as they support the scales and sort of stabilize things.

If you need to tighten scales a very light weight ball peen, or similar is good. If you don't have anything like that a large tablespoon, using the rounded bottom will work. Tap lightly a time of two and check your progress.

Faux ivory, tortoise, what have you is popular. Keep your scales dry and it will help with the slipperiness.

King Cutters are actually really good razors. I've been actively using mine for over 3 years now and love it. Not sure you'll have more grip than an edelweiss though.

Originally Posted by Ponypox

I have a slightly off topic question. I read that tightening the pivot pins on ivory is risky. Is elforyn (faux) ivory the same way? Thanks.

Real ivory scales are generally about half the thickness or less of a modern synthetic scale. Also, ivory has a definite grain structure and will tend to crack along it. When you factor in the age of ivory scales (often over 100 years) you can see that due caution is necessary. Your scales will pose no such problems.

Practice. I never noticed a difference because I always have pinched on the sides of the tang where there is no jimping