Thread: New to Straight Razor Shaving

Originally Posted by Bleacherbum76

And I seem to be pressing to hard

Any 'pressure' should be on the spine. The edge just sort of tags along for the ride. You should hear a very slight sound from it.

Try this:

Make sure that Only the Spine is on the strop and make some up and back strokes. The lay the edge on the strop and keep 100% of the pressure on the Spine. The every so gently apply a tiny bit of pressure to the edge and make some strokes. Now you should hear the difference.

I'm hoping that this will be of some help.

If you apply too much pressure especially on a full hollow you can actually force the edge to bend it's called 'turning the edge'. It's not easy to fix so go slow and take your time.

I would use a x stroke no matter what the strop size is. On a 3 inch strop it just isn't as pronounced. This guarantees that you get the entire edge.

[emoji31][emoji31]I was practicing stropping and I'm ruined my strop and probably screwed up the edge on my SR ..I rolled the edge and cut my strop pretty bad. Man I'm so not coordinated

You should post some pictures. It may not be as ruined as you think, some of the guys on here can fix just about anything. If it can't be fixed I'm sure you can get some ideas on a homemade solution to hold you over till you get a new one (newspaper, belt etc.)

Originally Posted by dinnermint

You should post some pictures. It may not be as ruined as you think, some of the guys on here can fix just about anything. If it can't be fixed I'm sure you can get some ideas on a homemade solution to hold you over till you get a new one (newspaper, belt etc.)

here it is! Some other slices on the edge

Don't feel bad, I've seen worse. I saw one that was almost cut in half! Not a slice mind you but clear through the leather!

Some carefully applied super glue may help you get some more life out of that strop. Also save it no matter what. Later on you may be able to use it .

Yep. It could have been worse. All will be okay as you are in the learning process so eventually you will get it down just right. Don't give up. Practice makes better. Just be patient, take your time & relax before continuing. I have had to walk away at times when I have become discouraged (at anything) & came back when I had taken a few deep breaths ready to continue again after relaxing. Things work out better after that. Many of us have done this at least once so don't feel like you're the only one. My very first strop had a few cuts on it & it was a good thing it wan't an expensive one. You can use CA (super glue) or some rubber cement which is more pliable. Lay it on a flat surface & place something heavy on it or similar with a clamp & let it cure. That will also give you some time to think about what went wrong & once it has set, you should be relaxed again. Good luck my friend.

I haven't done it before, but if there is any residual glue left over you might want to sand it off. Probably about 73 threads with better instruction on how to do it on here.

I think I'm just going to by a new one. And get my razor pro. honed

Originally Posted by Bleacherbum76

I think I'm just going to by a new one. And get my razor pro. honed

That's fine but don't throw that old one away. You can get that one pro honed by someone near you or send it off. If you look in the classifieds & go to the bottom under "member services" you will find someone who will hone it for you. I'll be in touch.