Thread: Shaving is the easy part - stropping on the other hand...

Originally Posted by Maxi

Stropping is a continuous, fluid motion. The razor never stops. When the razor stops at the end of a stroke....you get a nick. You THINK you're stopping, but your arm/fingers/wrist continue to move a minute amount.

Check out AFDavis11's videos on the forum home page. He's got the smoothest flip I've ever seen.

I wanted to look up the thread and thank you for your suggestion about the razor never leaving the strop. I don't know if I knew better or whether or not I have been doing it, but today I thought about that concept while stropping and did a much better job. Still fighting with the wrist, almost to the point what I feel and how it looks can sometimes be two different things. But anyway thanks for the suggestion.

Originally Posted by Ryan82

Two things come to mind:

-Be VERY careful when flipping the razor that the edge hits the leather while in motion; if you hesitate you tend to nick the strop.

-Elevate your wrist and/or elbow, so your wrist is level or slightly higher than the strop. We have a tendency to drop the wrist somewhat, which usually results in the heel nicking the strop. Notice how some nicks tend to be on the bottom of your strop, closest to the heel?

If you have to slow down a bit to avoid cuts by all means do it. That could be another problem, trying to go too fast before you're ready.

I just ran across your suggestion about elevating your wrist and elbow. I didn't retain it during my first read and during the watching of the video. Thanks in advance for your suggestion. I will notice what I do next time.

Talking about paddle strops. I have a couple bench strops which are really just big paddles and they are easier to use than a hanging. They don't flex or move as you use them and you can put them on a table or counter and better set them up for customized use. The hanger is the classic way of course and I use my bench strops as pasted strops only.

Just ordered me a "roo" strop today, but won't use it until I get further along in stropping technique!

I'm starting to get it now. I think. I hope.