Thread: Nicked my new strop three times on my first try. Humbug.

Be sure to check out the tutorial videos by hi_bud_gl and AFDavis11. top notch stuff!

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

Be sure to check out the tutorial videos by hi_bud_gl and AFDavis11. top notch stuff!

+1 Amazing videos helped me allot 3 strops later im no longer cuting my filly's lol but if i havent watched the videos who know how many cows i would have killed lol

The rule is simple:

. . . Press the _spine_ against the strop, so the strop bends _just a little bit_ around it;

. . . Let the edge _rest_ against the strop -- very little pressure -- so the strop _doesn't_ bend around the edge.

Then just:

. . . stroke up, flip,
. . . stroke down, flip,
. . . . . .

A proper "X-stroke" isn't hard to develop.

Charles

MisterSensitive,

Like many of us, your strop now has 'character'

Along with cuts & nicks on the face, strop nicking seems to be part of the 'rite-of-passage' for straight razor shavers

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

You are probably thinking about it to hard... And if it is any consolation, when I bought a new strop my daughter asked why the edges weren't "frilly" like my old one..

try holding it taut not tight, go slow to start, and also try angling the strop slightly (as in along the direction of draw looking down the strop), some guys find this makes it easier to contact the blade properly. concentrate on the spine as others have said, and i wouldn't use any pressure other than the weight of the blade to begin. also blade contact in stropping is just as important as in honing, you can risk dulling the blade otherwise.

Hi All, I bought a strop off ebay a cheap and not cheerful thing, very short, almost like cardboard, thoroughly disappointed for 3 days, right up to the point where i forgot to turn the razor and took a ruddy great chunk out of the strop.

i too find the narrow strop twists whilst stropping so will go for a 3" wide strop, very little pressure used, sounds the same on the up and down stroke, very even, Blades were just kinda heading in the right direction.

i know the theory but the practice is a right pain.

The razor that did this is my practice razor not shave ready.

So now i will buy a decent strop and a 8k stone.