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Hello everyone, I just got myself a 3 inch strop and it appears that I do not know what I am doing b/c I am getting scratches in the leather by the tip of the razor, its not gouging the leather or anything, its just changing the color. Im not pressing in on the strop its just the weight of the blade. Does any one have any idea as to what Im doing wrong?
Nothing. It is normal. As long as it goes away when you rub the strop with your hand, you are doing just fine.
+1 on Utopian's advice. So long as those same "scratches" aren't on your face as well...That could be a burr or something on the blade if that's the case.
Mick
Here is a 1961 barber manual excerpt in PDF format from the SRP Wiki help files. The stropping info is in the last couple of pages. Helped me out when I was beginning and it may help you out too. :gl:
I have had this same issue with a badly warped blade. The edge and the spine were not parallel with each other. I wasn't paying attention while I was stropping and I ended up with about 4 scratches on my strop. The fix, if this is your problem, is to make sure the edge is in full contact with the strop while stropping. Don't worry so much about the spine being fully on the leather, you don't shave with the spine. Always remember use a light touch while stropping.
Everything is subject to wear and tear and in my opinion you can't expect a new strop to look exactly the same as you use it. Ever seen a barbers strop after years of use? As has been said as long as you can't feel the scratches or rub marks and it's just that, marks I would not worry. Some leather seem to mark easier. Some of the very soft finishes as opposed to some harder ones that don't change appearance as readily. Of course if you can actually feel the scratches on the strop that's another story and then you need to inspect your blade and see if its an issue there or your stropping technique.