Thread: Stropping

Originally Posted by keenedge

Ray,
Could you clarify this part? I'm lost on the "....the index finger pad on the bottom of the pad."

ChrisL showed me the trick of putting the thumb on top of the neck. That helped me a lot with minimizing wrist turn. I'm not aware of where I put my index finger. I think it wraps around the backside and rests on the underside of the tang as I start.

It's amazing how such a small detail can make such a difference.

Sorry about that. What I ment was the thumb pad on the top of the spine and the index finger pad on the bottom of the spine for both strokes. Sorry about the mixup. My fingers get going faster than my brain sometimes. Learn to flip the razor without moving the wrist.

Ray

Hmmmm I am not so sure on a right way-vs-wrong way to hold the razor...
It should be in a comfortable position and the wrist should not rotate as this causes undo pressure on the edge and can cause the edge to roll during the flip...

The only hint I have ever come up with that seems to help is to keep the spine evenly moving across the strop forget about the edge pay attention to the spine if the spine is moving correctly the edge will be fine....
Keep exactly enough pressure going into the spine as necessary to keep it flat on the strop..


Speed is in the flip, forget about speed, set the razor correctly on the strop and move to the top at a medium speed, STOP and gently flip the razor paying attention to the mechanics of the flip, set the razor again and move back down the strop, STOP and do a slow perfect flip, repeat..
You need not get any faster then that, you will however as the muscle memory kicks in...

Stropping correctly is very, very, important....


Just for a reference my thumb is actually on the top corner edge of the tang when I strop, directly pushing the spine into the strop....and I really don't use the pad I more use a corner edge of my thumb... But hey that's just me couldn't say if it is right or wrong , I can say it works for me....

Originally Posted by rayman

Sorry about that. What I ment was the thumb pad on the top of the spine and the index finger pad on the bottom of the spine for both strokes. Sorry about the mixup. My fingers get going faster than my brain sometimes. Learn to flip the razor without moving the wrist.

Thanks for the clarification Ray. I thought I knew what you were saying, but just wanted to make sure. And I did find out tonight that I do exactly as you suggested.