Thread: Another newbie nervious as heck!

Originally Posted by jmueller8

No; you had it right! I was stropping incorrectly! I watched a few videos and worked it out. I sort of flew over that part and I felt it today! Ah; failure is so humbling!

Welcome. You're in good hands here.

As punishment for stropping incorrectly I hereby require you to strop correctly for 100 passes on your unfinished leather strop. the first 50 passes with slight pressure and the last 50 with very light pressure. Maybe 150 total. I thought about this kind of thing when stropping this morning. Go ahead, you can quote me on this: "You can strop incorrectly, but you can't "overstrop" a razor."

Seriously though, if you lifted the spine 10 degrees you may have rounded the actual edge slightly which could account for the razor feeling less sharp than your previous few shaves. I do recommend the above as a corrective measure.

Keep reporting in though; we like to read the progress.

Chris L

I'll strop it another 15 minutes tonight just to get some more time in. My face was so sore this morning, I decided to skip the shave. What's the best position to mount my strop? I tried it waist high and shoulder high and it still felt funny! Even tried it with the other hand. (The down side of being an ambidextrous left hander.)

Originally Posted by jbcohen

I have never ever drawn blood with a striaght ever.

Famous last words

Originally Posted by jmueller8

I'll strop it another 15 minutes tonight just to get some more time in. My face was so sore this morning, I decided to skip the shave. What's the best position to mount my strop? I tried it waist high and shoulder high and it still felt funny! Even tried it with the other hand. (The down side of being an ambidextrous left hander.)

I bet you'll get some varied answers for this 'un.
Around waist high is good for me

Thanks for the tip onimaru55; I did try stropping waist high and it felt a bit better. I'm just not comfortable turning the blade over on the spine for some reason! The shave was more comfortable and a bit closer this morning but I'm spending too much time shaving! What is everyone's "average time" spent shaving?

Originally Posted by jmueller8

Thanks for the tip onimaru55; I did try stropping waist high and it felt a bit better. I'm just not comfortable turning the blade over on the spine for some reason! The shave was more comfortable and a bit closer this morning but I'm spending too much time shaving! What is everyone's "average time" spent shaving?

I can't remember who said it before but flipping the spine is like turning the volume knob up & down tho I use all my fingers twisting the scales over as well.
I enjoy the shave ritual too much to go fast so I do it at night but I think I did 2 passes in about 8 minutes when I was in a rush one time. Not BBS but presentable.

Stropping felt a bit better this morning. Onimaru55; great idea, I was putting too much into my wrist and keeping my fingers too tight.

Rrp150; the hot towel was a great idea and I think I will shave at night from not on.

Here's a question I'm almost too embarrassed to ask: does anyone ever strop in the middle of a shave? When I went to the barber he had to replace the blade twice because my beard is so dense. I shave the left side first and find that my blade is not nearly as sharp when I start the right side. Or is this another stropping issue in that I'm not getting the blade sharp enough?

To give credit where it's due, it was Bart who made the volume knob analogy. Here's the thread. http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...ing-razor.html

First up, DE blades don't have anywhere near the durability of a str8.
Your beard may be a blade killer but it's possibly a honing or stropping issue.
Did you correct the previous edge damage ?

Lots of guys strop in between sides for optimal performance.

Originally Posted by jmueller8

Stropping felt a bit better this morning. Onimaru55; great idea, I was putting too much into my wrist and keeping my fingers too tight.

Rrp150; the hot towel was a great idea and I think I will shave at night from not on.

Here's a question I'm almost too embarrassed to ask: does anyone ever strop in the middle of a shave? When I went to the barber he had to replace the blade twice because my beard is so dense. I shave the left side first and find that my blade is not nearly as sharp when I start the right side. Or is this another stropping issue in that I'm not getting the blade sharp enough?

good question, nothing embarrassing about it. some people with with very thick beards do strop while in the middle of the shave.how do you prep your beard? if you have thick hair i would try shaving right out of the shower so that your beard is good and soft and one thing i found that made my shaves a whole lot better was how i applied my lather. if you apply your lather like you are painting a wall it glues the hair flat on your face. try using a swirling motion so that your whiskers are held straight up by the lather, you will notice a big diference

Originally Posted by jmueller8

I'll strop it another 15 minutes tonight just to get some more time in. My face was so sore this morning, I decided to skip the shave. What's the best position to mount my strop? I tried it waist high and shoulder high and it still felt funny! Even tried it with the other hand. (The down side of being an ambidextrous left hander.)

I fastend my strop to my doorhandle. Works for me... (fun to see there are more ambidextrous left handers here).