Thread: Strop Annihilation?

I've read a number of posts about newbies cutting, mutilating, shredding, and otherwise violating their first strop or so. Being new myself this makes me worry.

From the videos and written instructions I've seen, stropping doesn't seem like it should damage the strop at all. The advice is to go slow, avoid pressure on the cutting edge, experiment with pressure, roll over the spine, etc.

I've only been doing it for a couple of days now, but I've not had any problem following these instructions, at last to the point I haven't rolled my edge or cut my strop.

Should I expect that in the future I'll begin to make strop annihilating mistakes? How common is it really for noobs to destroy either their edge or strop? Am I having an easier time because the strop I bought is 3" instead of two? Is it because I relish doing it slowly, as I do my entire routine every day?

Any input from those more experienced (not a super high bar) is appreciated.

Stropping and shaving are very similar.

If you drop total concentration, you will pay.

I was stropping and shaving for quite some time before I brutalized my strop. Dave hit the answer head on. It is all about paying attention and not letting it wonder.

OTH some people are just naturals I guess.

Bob

I should have chosen the username StropSlasher because I destroyed three of them at the beginning.
I finally learned to go slow, pay attention, and to make sure that I had flipped before reversing direction.

But even with care, most likely you will eventually damage a strop. Accept it and realize that there are threads on the forum that tell you how to fix a damaged strop.

Oh, and I'm strop damage free for a year now.

Often times things that seem deceptively simple turn out to not be so. If you're not the ham handed type it will be easier but either way it takes coordination.

Also, like they said if you aren't in a concentrating mode better use a DE not a straight period. One way to think about it is if you nick the strop that may alert you to pay attention and it may help you avoid nicking yourself with a razor.

Most folks are influenced by TV/movies and try to imitate “Actors” stropping. But in almost everything, Hollywood never gets it right.

Want to cut your strop? Talk with someone while stropping, it does not take much to disrupt your focus. Talking on a cellphone and driving…

You are doing it right, but not cutting your strop is just the first step. The next step is to maintain the edge and then improve it. You could say, “I drove a race car around the whole track at 40 miles an hour and did not crash, I’m ready for the Indy 500.”

Just keep up with what you are doing, you will get a feel for stropping. I tell folks, the first 3 months the goal is to not damage the edge or the strop, 3-9 months, no damage and you can maintain an edge for at least 3 months, 9 months to a year you begin to actually improve an edge.

So while your goal now is to do no damage, a year from now you will rate your stropping skill, by the quality of your edges and smoothness of your shaves.

After a year you have only stropped 365 times. A thousand perfect repetitions develops a motor skill, Perfect repetitions, otherwise you are practicing…

As above. If you go slow and pay attention you'll be right. Then one day you get cocky and let the attention slide and bang, you've nicked the strop. Keen Han Solo's advice close to heat " Great Kid. Don't get cocky".

Could also watch Razor Guys Mastro Livi school vid on stripping. Here Livi advises to use an x-Stroke and take the razor off the strop completely, roll in the air and then bring it back to the stop in the correct position for the next pass. Can't nick the strop and jimps/spine work won't damage the strop either.

Today, I double checked my stropping grip and the nose of the razor scraped the far end of the strop. I guess now that's out of the way...

From what I read since it is so minor and toward the end of the strop there's no repair needed. I'll post pics of the disaster when I get out of work.

Plenty of threads on strop repair if you need em.

Bob