The Best Day Ever!!!!!!!

Well im the happiest person alive right now :D Lately ive been concentrating super hard on my honing skills and after every session i would test shave and it was never perfect at least not like the razor i got honed from Lynn! Well it turns out it wasn't the razor, the hones or lack of skill it was my stropping go figure. Up until today i was stropping with no pressure i mean probably less than the weight of the razor, well today i was reading through the stropping threads and came across a post talking about stropping pressure, so i gave it a try and what do you no after a small pyramid on my Norton than Chinese 12k than a little paste i hit my vintage horse hide strop (with some added pressure of course) showered and shaved. best shave yet BBS no irritation no pulling. So i re-honed all my razors and im super duper happy:y

Eric,

That's great! My stropping has been sub-par until I started really working on it in the last month. I still have a long ways to go, but it makes a world of difference.

I agree that adding some pressure can be good. Just be careful and take your time--and experiment. :)

Josh

Congrats on the discovery and improvement!
I tend to use a bit of pressure when stropping and I have to be careful not to nick when transferring from the downward stroke back to the upward stroke (flipping the blade over before moving back up the strop) BAD IDEA.

One of my biggest complaints when reading how people were taught to strop on this forum was the fact that they were told to strop with a light touch which goes contrary to to my understanding of good stropping! When I read "stropping is king" a thread started by honedright, I practically jumped for joy, but as I read on my heart sank to see how some of the other forum members verbally pummeled him. I must say that I am glad you discovered this important principle!

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Originally Posted by JMS

When I read "stropping is king" a thread started by honedright, I practically jumped for joy, but as I read on my heart sank to see how some of the other forum members verbally pummeled him. I must say that I am glad you discovered this important principle!

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That was a great thread and I think back to it often. I think the thing is that one man's sense of pressure is another's light touch and that it's a little dangerous to tell a new shaver to use pressure on the strop as they're likely to use too much.

X

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Originally Posted by xman

That was a great thread and I think back to it often. I think the thing is that one man's sense of pressure is another's light touch and that it's a little dangerous to tell a new shaver to use pressure on the strop as they're likely to use too much.

X

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Its mostly a matter of experience, practice, and a willingness to experiment and make mistakes!

I have always used a bit of pressure as I had a hell of a time NOT using a bit of pressure. If I tried going lightly on the stone or strop I noticed that I couldn't tell if the edge was making contact just by feel. I watched the edge and sure enough it was off the frigging stone and strop, both... When I placed just enough pressure to feel the edge gliding on the surface I found I got better results. Right, wrong, or indifferent, pressure works for me at the moment.

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Originally Posted by DwarvenChef

I have always used a bit of pressure as I had a hell of a time NOT using a bit of pressure. If I tried going lightly on the stone or strop I noticed that I couldn't tell if the edge was making contact just by feel. I watched the edge and sure enough it was off the frigging stone and strop, both... When I placed just enough pressure to feel the edge gliding on the surface I found I got better results. Right, wrong, or indifferent, pressure works for me at the moment.

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IT'S TIME FOR A REVOLUTION!!

WE WILL FORCE EVERY ONE TO STROP WITH PRESSURE MUAHAHAHA!!!

Wow i don't feel so alone! well like i said i re-honed and stropped all my razors and well its definitely amazing what proper technique can do. the good thing is ive figured out my stropping problem before i purchased a new strop that will wait till next month now! anyway im definitely going to get one from Tony just don't no which one. Any in put would be helpful thanks again for the support guys:tu

Nice job Eric,

I have used a bit of pressure since I started with my stropping. I will have to experiment more though as I want to see if I can get it even better. :)

Does the term "pressure" mean pushing down with you arm towards the floor or is more of a torque - pressing/twisting the edge against the strop? Discuss? please.

Jordan

I think it's better to apply the pressure more from the hand than the arm. And even more specifically using the thumb and index finger to manage the downward pressure. When I strop, it's my thumb on top of the shank that applies the downward pressure.

In fact, if you allow the downward pressure to come mostly from the forearm, you tend to put too much pressure into the strop. And I think you will have less control over the razor that way.

So if you can imagine doing it this way: try and maintain neutral pressure from the elbow to the wrist (relax the arm) and train the muscles of your hand (especially the "OK" muscles - thumb/index finger) to control the razor. There will be some downward pressure from the weight of your arm, but try and keep it neutral.

If you find that your hand feels like it's cramping up while stropping while your arm feels more relaxed, then you are on the right track.

Hope that makes sense.

Keep practicing :)

Scott

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Originally Posted by jnich67

Does the term "pressure" mean pushing down with you arm towards the floor or is more of a torque - pressing/twisting the edge against the strop? Discuss? please.

Jordan

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You make sure that spine and cutting edge are making contact at the same time and then apply even pressure so you don't accidentally lift the spine!
It would be hard to explain the amount of pressure though. X is right! it is a variable and will be different for each case. you have to experiment and not be overly worried about screwing up. unless you literally break the razor or cut your strop in half, most mistakes are fixable by the operator!

Ah! I do get the cramping hand thing. :D

Thanks for the info.

Jordan

Wow, I thought I was going against the grain (pun intended) by adding some pressure to my stropping. When I started to strop I tried to use as little pressure as possible and could tell that the blade was skipping across the leather. I began to add some pressure from my thumb and started to feel the leather draw on the razor more, plus the entire blade stayed in contact with the stop. And oh yeah, I got the cramping thing as well.

:)

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Originally Posted by jnich67

Ah! I do get the cramping hand thing. :D

Thanks for the info.

Jordan

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Just means you are putting a little extra love into the razor when stropping. ;)

the post that stuck with me the most concerning stropping i think was from honeright- think of appling some pressure to the spine during the draw and the blade will follow. something along those lines. when i strop i find myself going for the right sound. different grinds sound different of course but an even swooshing sound always makes me smile and has been giving me good results.:tu

as always i still have a lot to learn.

cheers,
ryan

Congrats! One reason we can not specify strop pressure is because its dependant on the honing and grind. Sharp razor, light pressure; not so sharp razor, more pressure.

Also, just so you guys know, the final grit you hone the razor with also determines optimum strop pressure.

This is why Lynn might say "use a feather light touch" and others might use pressure.

If you follow the barbers manuals they are very clear. "Use enough pressure to achieve a draw". In my opinion, draw equals aligning.

This clearly demonstrates that pressure is used when stropping and that the pressure is in fact a variable.

Having described this phenomena for several years, I'm glad some others are joining the bandwagon.

I still remember repeatedly posting "I still get the best shaves when I strop with pressure" and others saying they absolutely do not, like it was yesterday.

We also have to keep in mind what effect a particular thread has on our group success and not get frustrated by it. Ultimately when we start a thread we have to be prepared to back it up with facts such as the ones that Scott (Honedright) provided in this thread on how he strops. We can't just say "I have a better way, but I can't describe in any fashion what I'm doing" That leads to a lot of frustration.

Here in this thread we have a lot of useful and finally factual information on stropping . . . now if we can keep this momentum up and factualize honing a little better we will really be rocking. :)

I love the discovery process of learning. You've made an important leap forward. I strop with pressure. Think about it. You're trying to do something to hardened and tempered steel with something very soft i.e. leather. You have to use some pressure.