Thread: Nicking the strop

Allright so here is my newest issue lol. I know that I dont know exactly what i'm doing with stropping but it seems like every time i do i put a gouge in the leather. I was wondering if you all know why this is happening. I personally think it might be because my strop is hanging high so on the push stroke i'm going slightly up and when my hand stops it seems to want to pull back ever slightly and dig the blade into the side of the leather. Also i havent quite gotten to where it is all one fluid motion so my hand and the blade stop just long enough for me to flip the razor on its spine. Honestly i blame the guys that honed my razors they made it to sharp. lol j/k

well it happened to me too the first few times. once you get the synchronization down it'll be all good.

Nicking the strop is not uncommon when starting out, it can also happen if your mind wanders. Don't try to strop too fast, concentrate on getting the movement correct. Lots of info on this site by people more experienced than me on the best way to strop a razor.

You mention going upward. Being an old timer myself, in my youth I watched many a barber strop a razor. The hook that the strop hung on was built into the barber's chair and hung just a bit below waist high. I use zip ties (cable ties) to attach the strop to a door knob. For me that happens to be a bit below waist high and works well.

Something I read in the barber manual was to practice flipping the razor between your thumb and forefinger on the strop without moving your arm. When you have that down strop slow and easy. Speed will come. I concur with welshwizard about nicking the strop if you let your mind wander. I put a bad nick in my Tony Miller latigo doing just that. It was after 1AM and I was really tired but didn't want to go to bed without shaving. So I would add to the mind wandering thing not to strop when you are fatigued.

You might find the following articles in our Wiki useful:
· http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwiki/index.php/The_Zen_of_Straight_Shaving
· http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwiki/index.php/Razor_stropping
· http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwiki/index.php/Strop_treatment_and_repair

I just nicked a brand new strop yesterday. It happens. I stopped paying attention.

And before that, I took a gouge out of my TM strop because I forgot what I was doing.

I inflicted a not insignificant slice into my beloved Tony Miller strop due to inattention.
Anyone have any suggestions on how to repair a slice?

I'm told contact cement followed by pumice stone. I have to try it myself on my TM latigo. Inattention is one thing and fatigue is another. I learned not to strop when it is time to go to sleep.

Originally Posted by billyjeff2

Anyone have any suggestions on how to repair a slice?

It is all in the Wiki: Using rubber cement to repair a deep nick

In order to help learn the stropping technique, and avoid the bit of backslide you mention, I purposely went slow and raise the edge up for the last bit of the forward slide. Even though it was exaggerated, I felt it was better to do this and then slowly learn to do this less and less, rather than to try and lift the blade and stop at the same time.

In other words, start near you and move away from you. When you get 80% of the way to where you want to stop, start to gradually lift the edge, keeping the spine down. As you finish the last 20%, which you are slowing down on, the blade is certainly lifted and in no danger of backsliding a nick into your strop. As you practice going slowly, the 20% becomes less and less and things go smooth, speeding up.

I'm not sure if it's good advice, but it is helping me avoid nicks and still get a good strop.