Thread: Strop nicked up bad already (this is hard and frustrating)

My biggest piece of advice? Take your time. Technique is more important than speed. Don't try to mimic the guys in the movies who whip the razor up and down the strop. Remember those are the movies, not real life. You have joined all of us who have, at the start of straight razor shaving, cut your strop.

Wow thanks for all the quick replys and tips. I only had one bad nick, the rest were all very shallow. I took the sand paper suggestion and had a 800grit sanding sponge laying around that I used to buff out the nicks. I hit the sanded area with some of the fiancees saddle soap and it looks good as new again.

I can put a disposable straight edge to my face with no worries, a steady hand and get a perfect nick free shave. I think the real deal just makes me nervous and shaky for some reason and it just make it difficult for me to strop. I am over thinking it and just need to relax and take things super slow for the first month and follow all the tips that are suggested.

Thanks again, what a great community.

Stropping is one of those things that seems to the uninitiated very simple and straight forward but it really isn't. It's a skill that needs to be learned and it takes practice. Like Jimmy said, first practice flipping the razor with your fingers before you ever actually touch the strop. Then go slowly so you can see what you are doing. Watch the amount of slack in the strop, watch your pressure and watch your stroke and the way the razor reverses direction.

That's why I'm a fan of starting with a cheap strop. Most of us do some damage to our strops in the beginning.

You could also try a butter knife or similar razor shaped non-sharp object to learn the motions needed, it won't be quite the same but might save a strop.

Oddly enough, I didn't start nicking my strop until well later. Almost every nick is all from my Joseph Allen XXL that I picked up off of eBay.

That blade came sharp and honed up even sharper.

It is a dangerous beast.

Originally Posted by janivar123

good answers will come shortly but heres mine

when flipping the razor try to have the blade moving again before the edge touches the strop

as for if its bad for the razor, that depends on the nicks. Pictures?

Work on this. I had the exact same problem as you and I was nicking up the edges of my strop something fierce. Realized it was because I was pausing a bit when I flipped the razor over and then started moving. When I used this piece of advice from another member here, no more nicks since. Also, there's a wiki page on fixing nicks that's pretty good. Since mine were contained to the edge, I just used some 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper and sanded them down until it was smooth.

I read alot of posts about newbies nicking their strops..
I knew it would never happen to me.. It all looked so simple, and I was going to take my time until I became comfortable, which I was sure would not take long.
Luckily I bought a nice strop with an accompanying "practice strop." Well, needless to say, I hacked the practice strop up pretty good, just as everyone said! It's still usable, but it has some battle scars. I'm just tentatively moving to the prime time strop now, but I'm being extra careful!

Stropping has been, for me at least, by far the most challenging aspect of the straight razor experience. So don't worry... you've got plenty of company!

Originally Posted by BlacknTan

I read alot of posts about newbies nicking their strops..
I knew it would never happen to me.. It all looked so simple, and I was going to take my time until I became comfortable, which I was sure would not take long.
Luckily I bought a nice strop with an accompanying "practice strop." Well, needless to say, I hacked the practice strop up pretty good, just as everyone said! It's still usable, but it has some battle scars. I'm just tentatively moving to the prime time strop now, but I'm being extra careful!

Stropping has been, for me at least, by far the most challenging aspect of the straight razor experience. So don't worry... you've got plenty of company!

This sounds so familiar for some reason.

Originally Posted by dward

Remember those are the movies, not real life.

Isn't that the truth. Case in point - how many movies have you seen where the bloke is shaving with the razor nearly 90 degrees perpendicular to their face? And not one drop of blood whatsoever. Now that's Hollywood magic!