Stropping

As a newbie is there any problem with laying the strop flat on a counter and stropping there I have a 3 inch latigo

seems like I could accomplish a better smother form while it is stable !!!

Probably okay. Just make sure it stays flat. With nothing holding the strop ends in place it can move around. Watch also for the lack of separation between strop and table. It can make stropping more difficult. In the end it still helps to have the strop at elbow height. That way you can swing without effort.

At one time I tried that ages ago. I didn't like it because there was too much of a tendency to hit the surface the strop was lying on and it was more difficult to get the right stropping motion. With a bench strop you can do it because it's a hard surface to begin with and you are elevated of the table. Also you tend to keep it raised at an angle anyway.

In the end it's best to just earn the proper way. It's difficult to unlearn bad habits later on.

I actually wound up having to strop with a 3" wide piece of leather laid on a countertop for a couple of months a while back, and when I went back to stropping on a hanging strop, I found that my technique had improved a heck of a lot--and this was after having been shaving and stropping for about 7-8 monhts prior. It helped me really master the flip and also taught me what "lightest possible pressure" really felt like. As AFDavis11 says, you'll want to have the surface at about elbow height. I would lay my strop on the edge of the countertop and hold the left end with my left hand, and strop from left to right. I found that I had to go slower than with a hanging strop, and I think that slowing down is what helped me imporve my technique. When I went back to the hanging strop, I also found that I could strop faster than I had been.

Thank to all

I've done this, and you can create the same setup to mimic a paddle strop with a hanging strop. Place your hanging strop on some books and weigh down the ends with barbell plates. It's a bit less elegant than a proper paddle strop, but it functions the same way.

Trainee,

Please have a peek at these stropping videos; I have found them to be most helpful, especially when I get into my stropping doldrums :)

‪straight razor stropping‬‏ - YouTube

‪MrAfdavis's Channel‬‏ - YouTube

‪MrAfdavis's Channel‬‏ - YouTube

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ