Thread: stropping technique

I'm relatively new to straight razor shaving, I've been at it for about a week now, and I just now found this site. I've been scouring this place all day and decided it was about time for me to join.

Anyway, I took a look at Lynn's shaving video and noticed that he doesn't keep the strop pulled tight when he's stropping. Every source I've found online says to try to keep as flat a surface as possible by pulling tight on the strop, so now every piece of knowledge I've managed to aquire has been knocked off balance. Can anyone help clarify the "hanging strop" stropping process?

Also, I think I may have fallen for an ebay trap when buying my strop. It seems a little warped and has some minor flaws in the leather at the top end. The leather reminds me of a weightlifting belt, only the surface isn't all shiny, it's almost like a crude suede. It came with a free Pakistani "Two Golden Man" straight *ahem* "razor," if that tells you anything. My guess is I'm out 20 bucks and should start browsing through Tony's selection.

Nice to have you around.

First of all I hope you're not shaving with a Pakistani razor. If you are you will need more than just another strop. You'll need a real razor.

I can't speak to the strop you have, but it does NOT have a good pedigree nor does it sound like a good finisher based on your description. You can try conditioning it and rubbing it flat, but getting a hanging strop from Tony is never a bad idea in my book.

I think Lynn is holding the strop taut. The bowing you see is the natural springing action which is beneficial to getting a good draw on the leather without a stiff surface which can damage the razor's edge. If he were holding it loose, I think it would bow lot more than that.

X

Keep the strop taught and use a light touch. With experience you can allow the strop to sag some, and with an expert hand, strop perfectly. This technique is better left to the well practiced though.

If you spend enough time thinking about it (and its hardly worth the effort), the actual angle which the edge touches against a strop is negliglible as long as the razor is FLAT against the strop, even with some bowing. The slightest spine lifting though and blam!, no more edge. In the advanced maintenance of an edge though this technique can be helpful, used sparingly.

This technique is also used sometimes to get maximum action on the edge against the strop, again better left to experts. I do it on occasion and it works just fine, technique must be perfect though.

Now, if he applies the slightest amount of pressure at any spot in the process he would roll the edge over. But, he won't, and he knows better.

For the average person a light touch is recommended and if needed a dab of pressure can be added to attain a drawing sensation which is indicative of proper stropping, with a well honed razor. But, unless the strop is held taught you'll roll the edge when using a dab of pressure (even just a dab).

As the edge dulls you'll get less draw and you can add more pressure in order to strop without additional honing, BUT, chasing a dull edge with strop pressure isn't such a brilliant idea (better to consider rehoning at some point). The strop MUST be taught if your going to use any pressure!

So there are two options which work well. Taught with light pressure, and the error factor applying pressure is pretty varied, or with a loose sagging strop and a feather light touch only, which has a very small margin of technical and pressure error, but it can be done.

This should only give you peace of mind that if you use a feather light touch you can get away with a slight sag and shouldn't break the edge.

One other factor that plays into the equation is honing ability. The better the bevel and the finer the edge the less pressure is needed. In Lynn's case he not only has no fear of rolling the edge but likely creates a superb bevel and edge every time. Thus the razor will strop easily and effectively.

Again, two options: Light touch with a taught strop, and feather light touch with a sagging strop (but which is not recommended for even the semi-expert level). Once you learn how to hone well though give it a try, with a feather light touch it works pretty well. But you must keep the edge very flat and maintain a feather light touch.

Better for now though keeping the strop taught, regardless of the pressure you use.

I have only been SE shaving about two months now, but I can definately share what I learned about stropping the hard way. I dulled out my razor a few times until I got the kinks worked out.

Hold the strop taught. Do not try to play with sagging, be safe and save yourself the frustration. Hold the razor flat with no pressure even though the urge is there to do so. Go slow. Very slow. Speed means nothing, it just looks cool. Here is the key that really made the difference for me. Most stropping videos I have seen do not show it because they are going so fast. When you roll the razor between your fingers make absolutely sure at the end of the stroke to roll it on the SPINE not the BLADE. In other words when you are on the stroke moving away from yourself; at the end roll the razor AWAY from yourslef. On the return stroke roll the tazor TWARD yourslef. This will prevent you from folding over the edge when you roll the razor over.

Good luck and hang in there it only gets better. You will be so proud of yourself once you complete that first really smooth shave; you will forget all about the 20$ you blew on a bad strop from Pakistan.

That's all good advice, and the only thing I might add besides going slow--being a newbie myself--is to force patience. It's really easy to start slow and careful, but it's easier to lose patience and feel like you can speed things up. I've also learned the hard way that I need to strop with no distractions. If you're counting one-one, two-two, you'll lose track if the radio's on, your wife wants to talk, your son wants to play, or the cat wants food. Dogs, though, generally just watch quietly.

Dan

Welcome to the forum and the insane world
of the straight razor.

You gotten a lot of excellent advise here.
I can definately recommend Tony's strops.
They are of exceptional quailty and come
at a reasonable price. I believe that is
is on vacation through the endof the week.
So if you don't receive a speedy reply that
is why.



Terry

Originally Posted by 1adam12

I have only been SE shaving about two months now, but I can definately share what I learned about stropping the hard way. I dulled out my razor a few times until I got the kinks worked out.

Hold the strop taught. Do not try to play with sagging, be safe and save yourself the frustration. Hold the razor flat with no pressure even though the urge is there to do so. Go slow. Very slow. Speed means nothing, it just looks cool. Here is the key that really made the difference for me. Most stropping videos I have seen do not show it because they are going so fast. When you roll the razor between your fingers make absolutely sure at the end of the stroke to roll it on the SPINE not the BLADE. In other words when you are on the stroke moving away from yourself; at the end roll the razor AWAY from yourslef. On the return stroke roll the tazor TWARD yourslef. This will prevent you from folding over the edge when you roll the razor over.

Good luck and hang in there it only gets better. You will be so proud of yourself once you complete that first really smooth shave; you will forget all about the 20$ you blew on a bad strop from Pakistan.

Ya in a few months when you have started to spent a few hundred on razors that you just HAD to have...the $20.00 will be chump change in comparrison!! BTW I stropped for about two weeks on a belt I wore daily when my strop was stolen from a hotel room. I didnt get the best shaves, but they were still pretty damn good, so you will probably be ok. I would advise that you talk to Tony Miller when he comes back from vacation and see if you can get yourself a new good quality strop if the one you have isnt working out for you.

ok, I'm looking at a lithide barber hone from Tilly right now. It's relatively cheap, and it seems like it would get the job done to me. I did a search on the forums for lithide and didn't find anything. Any comments?