Thread: Stropping issues

I'm sitting here imagining you stropping from right to left, and I feel this could be part of the problem. Not that you can't keep the razor flat on the leather while making strokes this way, but I don't think this method is one that I would teach. I believe you would better serve your strokes with more control and concistancy by standing with the strop more in line with your body(you would be stroking toward you and away from you). This would, also, help keep your blade more level. I would get a hook from Wal-Mart, or whomever, and mount it either higher or lower than it is now. This way your stroke would be more up and down and close to 90 degrees rather that doing a horizonal 180 degrees.

IMO, I really believe this would help.
(I had difficulty explaining what I meant) I hope you understand what I am saying -

Steve

Originally Posted by MistressNomad

JHmmm, I may make myself a linen strop. I have lots of raw fabric (I make most of my clothes) that I could use.

If you do decide to sew your own... I just made a linen one with real belfast linen that I picked up in the cross stich supply aisle of a craft store and I am very pleased with the results. Belfast linen was used in at least some of the vintage linen strops, and my resulting strop material looks and feels very similar to the fabric component of an old strop that I have. My first effort was a hollow tube with a sewn seam, which was good but I found the layers could shift about, causing wrinkling. For my next effort I tried a folded affair with the folded layers bonded to each other with silicone. First I ironed the material where I wanted the folds, then applied small diameter (1/8" maybe) jigzag bead of silicone on one side, spread/smoothed the silicone out into a filmy layer a plastic credit card, then pushed the layers together. The linen was thick enough that the silicone doesn't bleed thru. I then let it sit overnight, then puched a hole at one end and installed a grommet to give it a hanging point. Too easy.