Stropping is King - Part II

I was talking to a fellow the other day who I've been helping out a bit with straight razors. He was telling me how his shaves off the razors I honed for him felt like they were pulling. Now I guess everyone here has no doubt learned by now that there are many reasons why beginner's shaves may not feel the greatest - angle, stretching, prep, stropping to name but a few. There are many moving parts to a "good" straight razor shave and it can be hard to pin poor shaves down to just a single issue, particularly without seeing the shave first-hand.

So we arranged to meet up so he could show me his shave. Happily he works at a Barber shop, so shaving facilities were at our fingertips.

In any event, to cut a long story short (too late!), it turned out that his stropping was a bit off in a couple of ways, which were easily corrected and should yield him good shaves with some patience, practice and persistence.

So I guess the moral of the story is that stropping, beyond many of the other issues that may befall the beginning straight razor shaver, is undoubtedly in my mind the biggest hurdle beginners face. And it is the most important tool at your disposal, apart from the straight itself, when it comes to imparting a good shave.

Spend time learning how to strop correctly. Practice diligently. You will never regret it - quite the opposite in fact. And good luck! :)

James.

Amen to that brother.

Bob

Jimbo: "So I guess the moral of the story is that stropping, beyond many of the other issues that may befall the beginning straight razor shaver, is undoubtedly in my mind the biggest hurdle beginners face."

It certainly was the more difficult skill for me to acquire. Thx. for posting, Jimbo.

Jimbo speaks truth.

Preach it.

Very true stropping has been my biggest hurdle, practising with a butter knife helped me a lot.

I still think honing is king, but if you don't strop well it's like bringing in the jester to mess with all your swords the morning of the battle!

Maybe stropping is king and honing is queen.

Prince made good music, and the princess is in another castle.

The problem with stropping is that anyone can do it, but doing it well takes some learning. It's a little like straight shaving in that anyone can pick up a sharp straight razor and attempt to shave with it. We've all read the results of that being done, but not being done well. At least strops don't bleed when they're nicked.

A lot of skill sets certainly go into straight shaving, but that's probably what keeps me interested. Having the best shaves possible is a fitting reward.

If I have to use a safety razor for several days in a row, I get bored with it.

I have improved light years with my stropping but I still struggle with it, probably because I would naturally move the blade back and forth right-handed and flip the blade left-handed. (I write left-handed.) So basically I'm having to train myself to go against what's natural for me and learn to flip the blade right-handed.

To be honest, I was never satisfied with my honing results until I lucked out and got a great price on a set of Shapton hones. I'm sure if I persevered I could master the natural 1000/4000/8000/12000 stones I have but am getting more definitive results with the Shaptons.

To my surprise, the 5/8 razor has become my weapon of choice. I used to prefer larger razors, but a well-honed 5/8 is more agile for me.

It has certainly been a long journey these past three years, but a very satisfying one. There's nothing like a well-done straight shave to achieve a feeling of well-being.

Subtle things can throw your stropping off too. I have two hart steels and one shaves way better then the other. It turned out that the problem child had a slightly loose hex nut that was making it dance on my strop. Something as simple as a slightly loose pivot can scramble my stropping completely.

Jimbo nailed it I think. My honing was better than my stropping at first, now I still dont go full warp speed like some, but a smooth steady pace works well for me, so if it aint broke...yada yada yada. :p

Hey Jimbo - can you recommend any good definitive videos on proper stropping technique?

(BTW Maleny is a beautiful part of the world)

Straight Razor Stropping for Beginners - YouTube

Here's a good one showing the fingers flipping the razor. Most videos show the hand doing it. The problem with the hand doing the flipping is that too much pressure is easily applied.

I would say that stropping is king. It is done much more often and, when done properly one would need only hone their razor every year or so.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AFDavis11

I still think honing is king, but if you don't strop well it's like bringing in the jester to mess with all your swords the morning of the battle!

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Love your analogy.