Help Stropping

Hi Everyone,

I'm somewhat new to the Straight Razor world. I've always had an interest tin them and have done some research on different kinds of straight razors. I find them very intriguing and quite fascinating. I've been shaving with a straight razor for two months now and but have been having a hard time keeping a good edge on my razor. I was hoping to get some help and tips on good technique when stropping. I am using a Chicago 127 Strop but am afraid I may have already ruined it. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

First of all welcome!

Good stropping technique is very important when shaving. You should keep the razor flat on the strop, using minimal pressure, and strop in a smooth back and forth motion with the spine leading. If you don it with the edge leading you'll wreck the strop and dull the razor, so dont do that...!

Have a look at this section of the Wiki on stropping.

What do you mean when you say you've ruined the strop? Have you sliced it? If so, this can usually be repaired as long as the damage isnt too bad. Pics of your strop would be useful to assess the damage?

Try practicing with a butter knife as well, to get used to the motion. Once you're happy, try it with your razor and hopefully you'll get much better results!

Good luck and keep us posted!

What helped me is to slow down and watch the EXACT time I started to lift the blade at the end of the stroke, and the exact time I lowered the blade on the way into the next stroke (either direction applies here).

You keep the spine of the razor on the strop at ALL times. So it is imparitive you understand the timing of the lifting and lowering of the edge. If you don't time this right, you will nick the strop - no if, ands or buts about it.

So, what I trained my finger tips to do is to start the lift just before the end of the stroke, and then, not lower it back until I started the opposite stroke. This took over a month to get the muscle memory in my hands to do this automatically. If you actually saw me strop, the lifting and lowering of the edge is so fast and smooth that it is undetectable as to when it is actually taking place. But it does take place when I am telling you. I refused to replace my nicked up strop until I could do this for 2 months with no nicks.

That is the best way I can explain it. I hope it helps.

David

Without knowing what kit you have it is difficult to answer this.I agree with stubear regarding the stropping etc but after 2 months of shaving it is also possible that the razor needs a "touch up" on a hone .You can either send it away to be re-honed or take care of your own razor by buying a hone from the classifieds in this site or the web.
I bought a hone 10K (this puts the edge back on the razor) and a jewellers loupe x10 magnification when i first started -(this gives an excellent view of the condition of the razor's edge and any damage ie rolled edge ,small dings,chips etc).
Of course it is down to you to decide as a hone does cost a reasonable amount-the loupe is quite cheap in comparison but you will regain the cost after a year or so of honing your own razor imo.
Welcome to SRP!
Regards

Noggs :)

I had a Dovo Tortoise as my first staight razor and after the 7th shave, it just wasn't sharpening up as much as I needed it to by stropping alone. So, I then purchased a 4 sided pasted paddle strop with Chrom Ox. 3.0/1.0/.50 on three sides and a few passes on that did the trick for this razor, which is also considered a beginning razor.

The Tortoise shaved well and was forgiving, but it always needed a few passes on the pasted strop to get back into shape after a few shaves.

It is possible that a light honing is what you need and this is where the pasted paddle strop comes in handy for all of my straight razors.

Others may use touch up hones in lieu of a pasted paddle strop.

Good Luck,

Pabster

Your not alone on stroping, i too am struggling to get a edge.

Hi technika1

Quote:

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Originally Posted by technika1

Your not alone on stroping, i too am struggling to get a edge.

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Firstly-was your razor purchased as "shave ready"?-If not then have it honed-if yes then your stropping needs to be reviewed.
Check that you are following instructions in the wiki.
Stick with it-go slowly at first to make sure the spine is on the leather at all times-build up speed as you improve and get the feel of the draw.
Are you doing enough strokes-approx 50/70 strokes is about right.
Hope this helps
Regards

Noggs :)

I, too use to find stopping a hard thing to do, and still, after almost a year, find myself getting a little too comfortable and lifting the spine. When I do that I slow down, and think about what I am doing.

+1 to the very light pressure. I like the saying, if you thing you are applying light pressure, you're applying too much pressure. I try to put as much pressure as I would if I were afraid I was going to tear through the strop, so you can imagine how little pressure I use, and it seems to maintain the edge just fine.

:gl: and let us know how it goes! :D

I also have found it very benefitial to strop in the evening. Many days I'm slightly rushed in the morning, and I found that concentrating on the strop was a difficult task while still thinking about getting out the door on time.

I began to strop in the evening, which allowed me complete concentration, and ample time to make sure I was completing each pass perfectly. After a couple of months, I was able to begin in the mornings again, but after a short time I realized that I thoroughly enjoyed my evening strop sessions and returned to them. As with advice from Noggs and Stubear, spine leading at all times, and train your fingers and wrist correctly the first time. I still don't go very quickly, but each stroke is done well.

Have fun,
Maxi

Stropping can be difficult, but I usually advise people, especially novices, to start with a shave ready blade from one of our honemeisters. Shave with it without touching it to a strop. Now you have something to compare the rest of your shaves to. If comfort goes downhill fast you need to check your stopping technique. Unless you start with a gold standard you have no idea what you've got or what you are doing.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to reply to my post. I will take some pictures of my strop so I can get some opinions on the best way to repair it (if at all possible). In regards to my current issue I am 100% sure it is my technique that needs to improve. I will definitely take some of the tips I've learned here and apply them. Regards to honing... well that I'm sure will be an entirely new set of obstacles I'll soon face. Is anyone on this forum in the Los Angeles area? It'd be great to learn hands on from someone. No matter how many youtube videos I look at or articles I read I still dont know when I am doing something wrong or what exactly is wrong with my technique. Thanks to you all.

Lots of good comments here. For me, learning to slow down whilst stropping was a big help. Butter knife practice is a great way to build muscle memory and learn to get in the groove without ruining your strop & dulling your blade (been there, done that). I, too like to strop my razors at night. It's become a before-bedtime ritual for me.

Cheers,

Larry

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dcarlos1356

Thanks to everyone who took the time to reply to my post. I will take some pictures of my strop so I can get some opinions on the best way to repair it (if at all possible). In regards to my current issue I am 100% sure it is my technique that needs to improve. I will definitely take some of the tips I've learned here and apply them. Regards to honing... well that I'm sure will be an entirely new set of obstacles I'll soon face. Is anyone on this forum in the Los Angeles area? It'd be great to learn hands on from someone. No matter how many youtube videos I look at or articles I read I still dont know when I am doing something wrong or what exactly is wrong with my technique. Thanks to you all.

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You can check out the members map here: http://straightrazorpalace.com/vbgooglemapme.php. It's not exhaustive, I believe you have to manually opt-in to be listed on the map.... but it looks like there's a handful of members in the LA area.

Dr. Maximillian lives a short 4 hours from you in Las Vegas. You might send him an email or PM. He's moving soon, so the next few weeks might be hectic for him. Get in a Vegas weekend and learn some tips from one of the best!

Warm regards,

Larry

Hello I'm SOlingen-not my real name-and as of late Fall am a newbie to straight razor shaving. I've purchased an array of razors strops from reputable dealers, B&B members, and Ebay-hit and miss. I've been told and read that one should strop prior to shaving, not after in order to give the burrs time to re-align 24-48 hrs. Then I've been advised to strop after shaving. Which procedure is correct?
I have stropped prior to and sometimes after the first stroke and have gotten decent results. I usually lather my face and strop. Today I used a st German mase badger brush, Tabula Rasa Shave Cream-like shaving with air-, a nib Hen & Rooster straight that I purchased for $21 on Ebay. It felt 'shave ready', but I stropped it on a Ill Russian Leather strop, and a Latigo. After first sweep, I stropped it again and got a good shave-minus neck & chin-haven't matered technique, plus I sport a beard. Than was about 9hrs ago & still BBS face. Just want to know what is the correct procedure of pre and post-shave stropping so I don't ruin any razors & my face in the process.:confused:

Hi Solingen,
First -watch out for the dates of the threads you post on -this one dates from 12th May 2010.Not that it does any harm-it's just that some members watchout for this and post necro wierd stuff etc

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Solingen

Hello I'm SOlingen-not my real name-and as of late Fall am a newbie to straight razor shaving. I've purchased an array of razors strops from reputable dealers, B&B members, and Ebay-hit and miss. I've been told and read that one should strop prior to shaving, not after in order to give the burrs time to re-align 24-48 hrs. Then I've been advised to strop after shaving. Which procedure is correct?
I have stropped prior to and sometimes after the first stroke and have gotten decent results. I usually lather my face and strop. Today I used a st German mase badger brush, Tabula Rasa Shave Cream-like shaving with air-, a nib Hen & Rooster straight that I purchased for $21 on Ebay. It felt 'shave ready', but I stropped it on a Ill Russian Leather strop, and a Latigo. After first sweep, I stropped it again and got a good shave-minus neck & chin-haven't matered technique, plus I sport a beard. Than was about 9hrs ago & still BBS face. Just want to know what is the correct procedure of pre and post-shave stropping so I don't ruin any razors & my face in the process.:confused:

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Answering your question -it appears that the notion of allowing your blade to rest after shaving was only a sales ploy by manufacturers to increase sales.(I too rested my blades until i joined SRP.)
Consensus now states that stropping after shaving does your blade no harm whatsoever and indeed cleans the gunk off the "fin" (the fine saw teeth of the blade).So strop your razor both before shaving and after about 60 strokes before and 20 after.
Hope this helps.
Kind regards
Noggs :)

I'll second the idea that resting the blade really isn't necessary, but it is cool to have 7 blades, one for each day of the week. That said most of us have one or two blades, some have hundreds. I tend to use my favorite Dovo all the time.

I think stropping before shaving is a must, unless you just got it back from honing. Stropping after is a good idea, but not necessary. Stropping during your shave is a matter of personal preference.