Thread: Stropping problems

Hi,

I'm finding the whole stropping thing quite hard to get the hang of. Watching the various videos linked from the site I often see comments such as 'too much wrist action' (ooer missus) however and that the 'flip' in stropping is performed with the thumb and forefinger- I just find this very difficult as I lose control of the razor very quickly where as if I flip it with my wrist, as it were, I keep control of the razor for much longer. Is this in correct is there a reason that I shouldn't use my wrist to fip the razor or is this purely a fatigue consideration ie you can't strop for as long a time if you use your wrist or is there something I'm missing that leads me to lose control of the razor?

The truth is that what matters most, is that it works for you.

That being said, people make the recommendations they do, because in they long run, they're the ones that tend to work the best. I've been straight shaving for a couple years now, and I use quite a bit of wrist when stropping. However, it is the fingers doing a lot of the work.

You need to practice a lot, it took me 4-5 days before I started to get the hang of it, and now it's pretty effortless after a couple weeks.
My 25+ years of guitar playing may have helped, as my motor skills with my hands are pretty good.
I flip the razor with my thumb and index finger and make sure I have pretty much the same grip and pressure on the tang going both ways.

I made a quick little video to show how I do it, excuse the crappy webcam quality...
I'm doing it really slow at the end, so you can see how I work my fingers:

Hope it helps.

Hi!!

Listen, I had the exact same problem when I started out. I bet we all did. But here's what I did to get the technique down better.

First I placed my strop flat on a table, but any flat surface with a flat edge works, because I wanted my hand to extend 'below' as if I were working a hanging strop. Then with the strop laid flat, steadying it with my left hand, I could slowly work the technique of moving and flipping. In this fashion I had a lot more control over keeping the entire blade on the strop, as well as being able to draw it more slowly.

Beginning the flip, prior to reversing direction was difficult for me, and caused me to cut and knick my strop several times by not doing it properly. I learned to sand and prep my strop in the process as well! LOL.

Think of it like rolling a pencil in your fingers. Just hold a pencil like you would hold your razor and roll it. That's really all you're doing to your razor. It's just not round. Get a butter knife from the kitchen and try rolling that next. Muscle memory is an amazing thing. Once your muscles know the right way, it gets a lot easier.

Good luck!! Hope you get it, don't give up!!

M

many thanks the video especially helped, i think I'm putting too much pressure on the strop your stroke seems very light. I have been and shall continue with the strop on a flat surface and persevere...

Originally Posted by marka7763

many thanks the video especially helped, i think I'm putting too much pressure on the strop your stroke seems very light. I have been and shall continue with the strop on a flat surface and persevere...

Have in mind I'm stropping mostly to show the technique in the video, I use a bit more pressure when I'm stropping for real