Thread: Stropping on a narrow strop

Yeah, listen to honedright, he knows his stropping better than most of us.

And when all is said and done, you should strop the way that works for you. I do what was illustrated above because I think it works best. You need to determine what works best for you.

Originally Posted by honedright

I've found this method (see diagram) to be very effective:

Attachment 23294

It's an X pattern, but with an arc.

Just something you might want to give a try. Oh, and you'd start the stroke with the point (toe) where the red line begins (the razor perpendicular to the strop or slightly angled opposite from the final position shown) then follow through, as diagrammed, with that arcing, or sweeping stroke as shown. Kind of like a wind shield wiper.

And, the razor doesn't fall off of the strop. You'd do your flip at about the spot where the diagram shows the razor resting at the end of the stroke, and then start the second stroke at the beginning of the other red line.

Hope that's not confusing.

that seems if you start with the toe on the strop you heal will never hit the strop on a 2" or am I not visualizing it right.

Originally Posted by erictski

that seems if you start with the toe on the strop you heal will never hit the strop on a 2" or am I not visualizing it right.

Just start your stroke with the blade a little higher up on the strop and maybe a little more angled to get the heel on the strop. Just play around with it. Then just sweep the blade along and diagonally across the strop in an arc. I think the arc is just a more natural and fluid motion, rather than trying to make strict straight line movements. Just try it and see. Maybe you will come up with your own most better stropping method.

when I wrote "to keep it simple" above I was thinking of arcs- because i figured the post confusing enough re-reading I see that it is i didnt want to mention arcs.

I just cant make Xs

I go up left right and down right left - it doesn't seem to be doing any harm to my razor. I also don't count my laps - I have no idea why though!

Different strokes for different folks.

I guess there's really no such thing as a "right" way to do all of this.

Some methods would only be "wrong" if either a) you can't, in spite of trying, do it, or b) if said method just doesn't get the results you are after. Then it might be wrong for you.

How's that for straight razor wisdom?

So I understand (conceptually) that I would use this X pattern with a 2 inch strope, but what about a 3 inch strope. Does this same technique still apply?

BTW, I want to let everyone know that is this a great string. It's extremely helpful for me (hopefully others) to hear about the different tips & tricks.

honedright - I don't know where you got that diagram but I appreciate you posting it. I have been over-thinking the X pattern and you helped put that to rest.

Originally Posted by travec

So I understand (conceptually) that I would use this X pattern with a 2 inch strope, but what about a 3 inch strope. Does this same technique still apply?

BTW, I want to let everyone know that is this a great string. It's extremely helpful for me (hopefully others) to hear about the different tips & tricks.

honedright - I don't know where you got that diagram but I appreciate you posting it. I have been over-thinking the X pattern and you helped put that to rest.

I drew the diagram with MS Paint a long time ago. It was posted on SRP a couple of years ago, but I think it was lost.

I use the technique on any sized strop. I played around with many different methods for stropping for years and finally found this arcing X pattern to be the most comfortable and effective for me. I just pass it along in case others might find it helpful.

I edited (rather poorly) my original diagram to give a better idea of how the razor is positioned at the start of the stroke. Just in case someone might still have trouble with the concept: