Thread: Stropping

Hi,

I am having trouble. Everytime I get my razor sharpened I only seem to get one really good shave and then the edge seems a bit more dull. Is this normal? I get the feeling that it is my stropping technique. Any hints?

Keep the strop taut and the spine in contact with the strop whenever moving the edge across it. While you're learning how to strop, speed is less important than acquiring the technique. Go to the Wiki (top of the page), there's some good stuff there.

Without watching you and if ask to take a guess, I would assume that you are using too much pressure on your razor. This is causing you to deform the edge of the razor and make it dull. A pasted strop will also help you get it sharp again but this is after a few good shaves. Go to the Wiki do some reading and watch the video. Hang in there it will come. Also be care this is the time that most people will but a couple of nice nicks in their strop.

Crom

I have also read that strop paste is to be applied to the leather side and in some places I have read that it should be applied to the linen side. Can someone tell me which side it is?

Originally Posted by beachbum

I have also read that strop paste is to be applied to the leather side and in some places I have read that it should be applied to the linen side. Can someone tell me which side it is?

Whatever it is you are reading, stop. You want to read these two articles first:

1. Razor stropping - Straight Razor Place Wiki
2. Finishing Pastes - Straight Razor Place Wiki

The short answer is: if your razor dulls after one shave, your stropping is most likely at fault. Your blade angle when shaving might also be too steep, but that could only be a fraction of your problem.

As far as pastes are concerned, opinions vary widely. And not all pastes are abrasive, as laid out in the article above.

P.S. When answering beginner questions with references to the Wiki, take the 30 extra seconds and give the full URL, guys. Please.

I posted with a similar problem a month ago. As stated above, you need to hold the strop tight, with light touch, and no sag during stropping. This will avoid rounding the edge. To make sure I wasn't rounding the edge, a few times, I laid the strop on a table and stropped there. (The table can't sag!) When things improved there, I returned to the hanging strop, and the dulling problem after one shave didn't return.

As an aside, I am increasingly of the belief that I wasn't stropping enough before. With a microscope to view the edge, and with many shave tests, I am slowly increasing the number of stropping passes I use.

+1 on on the too much pressure. I never felt I was using *that* much pressure, but I ran into the same issue where a nicely sharpened blade would last for one shave. The next shave just didn't have that nice glide feeling and started to pull a little. The correction was 10 laps on a chrom ox pasted balsa paddle strop, to get the edge back, and then using lighter pressure when stropping to maintain.

Originally Posted by BeBerlin

P.S. When answering beginner questions with references to the Wiki, take the 30 extra seconds and give the full URL, guys. Please.

Oops, sorry. Duly noted.

Sometimes when we watch the video's or read some instructions the little things, that don't seem important, are. I had problems with stropping at one time. I got the holding the belt tight and making sure the spine rode on the belt, but what I didn't get was the way to hold the razor.

The way I use to do it was to hold the razor by the jimps, between my thumb pad and the first joint on the index finger. WRONG! The way it should be done is to put the thumb pad on the top of the neck, and the index finger pad on the bottom of the pad. This allows you to apply absolutly minimal pressure to the blade and still maintain full contact with the edge. Holding by the jimps, allows the blade to sway back and forth and up and down. Holding it by the spine allows for no sway at all. Practice the stroke, and when fliping the blade over, do not rotate the wrist at all. This should solve your issue. Remember, VERY LITTLE PRESSURE.



Good luck,

Ray

Originally Posted by rayman

The way it should be done is to put the thumb pad on the top of the neck, and the index finger pad on the bottom of the pad.

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.