Thread: Lifting blade from strop

I slowed way down today during stropping. It helps. What I noticed as I pushed the blade away was that the spine made contact with the strop but I was lifting the blade off of it. So I paid attention with each stroke. Stropped 100 times being careful to note the blade on the strop with each stroke. What a difference. Easily passed the HHT and what a wonderful shave I got from the razor. And I did all of this because of advice here at SRP. Thanks for all the good advice.

Stropping sure does make a huge difference! For the better or the worse.

Good show, Rusty. Speeding and lifting the blade from the strop invite the folded edge. As for the joys of stropping on a delicious strop, sometimes I go two or three hundred strokes on leather, not because my blades needs it, no, because I get into a zen state and fade away. Stropping is one of my preferred activities in the straight razor world.

Glad it worked. That is the reason I went to using an X stroke even when using a 3 inch strop. It just seems to ensure that some part of my motion or reach doesn't cause a portion of the blade to lift, even microscopically from the strop surface.

I stropped up two more blades yesterday, taking my time and watching the blade to make sure it didn't float up. Both blades passed the HHT. Now I understand that test. Never did before because it never worked for me.

Nice work. If I'd had know just one thing or two when I started stropping, I wouldn't have destroyed so many strop. Yeah, Rusty.

Good. Keep the spine stuck to the strop at all times like shit to a blanket. It doesn't matter if the toe part of spine lifts when turning as long as some part of spine stays in contact with strop. The principle is similar to a rolling stroke when honing. It takes a bit of conscious effort if bad habits have developed.

In the long run, I figure it is a matter of creating muscle memory. So slow and watchful for a long while is going to promote good muscle memory. And I agree about keeping the spine on the strop all the time. Early on when the spine lifted is when I'd cut my strop. Not good.

It still takes me a long time to strop. I told myself I was going to commit to flipping the blade between my fingers and not rolling my wrist. I've stick with that- Not as fast but I like it.

Speed kills… a strop. I think most stropping problems with novices are from trying to imitate what they have seen in the movies and TV.

Even if you go slow and do a half lap every second, one way, it will only take a minute to do 30 full laps.

Royalcake, try holding alternating corners of the tang between the thumb and forefinger, rolling the tang at the flip like turning a knob.

You can torque the tang a bit to keep the spine or edge on the strop, as opposed to downward pressure.