Thread: stropping angle

How important is it to strop on a horizontal? My strop is suspended from a bolt about chest height on my bathroom door. I sit back on my bathroom sink stropping at about a 30 degree angle upward. I started this way because it gave me a better sight-line on the leather surface than stropping at hip level would do, so I could see for sure that I wasn't lifting the spine, that the edge contact was good and stable, etc. Now I've just gotten used to it. No edge-rolling, no problems, but I wonder if I might be missing something...

Many barbers and other people strop downward, Another SRP member has a video and on it you see him stropping upward. So long as the blade stays flat on the strop and you have good control of the razor, I shouldn't think not stropping horizontally would be a bad thing.

I agree - as long as the blade can be kept flat on the strop, I don't think it would matter whether you strop up or down. Personally I tend to strop down (handle higher than point of attachment).

Having said that, there *could* be wrist position and flipping issues at the end of each stroke with slightly more extreme strop angles, I would guess

James.

Well I've never rolled an edge or even nicked the strop. It's taken me months to be able to shave without razor burn, and to be able to hone at even a moderate level of competence. But I learned stropping without a hitch; I think I read one description and haven't given it a thought since. In fact I rarely even visited the stops forum, which is why horizontal stropping never even occurred to me.

I guess what I'm wondering is about no-pressure stropping. That seems like one thing that might be affected by stropping at an angle. I would never describe my way of stropping as "just the weight of the razor"; I'd describe it as gently keeping the spine and edge in constant contact. I know I'm not doing anything disastrous; I'm just wondering if I did that "just the weight of the razor" thing on a horizontal strop if that would mean superkeen edges.

I suppose that's debatable. I think the common consensus is to use enough pressure to feel "draw" when stropping. That will depend on the razor and the strop being used if I understand it right.

There's another thread active right now where someone is just using "the weight of the razor" and the edge doesn't touch the strop apparently.

I really couldn't say if a lighter touch produces a keener edge. In my experience, I use a very light touch because I'm heavy handed and if I don't, I'll ruin the edge but I can't speak authoritatively on this.

Adding more weight isn't really helpful, but you need some draw. The last few strokes should be really light. Uphill, downhill, it should all be fine. With just the weight of the blade and a dulling razor you may end up with razor burn. The key, I think, is not to add the weight by torquing the edge of the razor into the strop, it'll bend/roll like that.

The stropping action occurs from the motion, not the pressure.

After a few years of practice you may notice that strokes with the nap of the leather require differing pressure than strokes against it, but thats really putting a lot of emphasis into the most simple steps of the straight shaving process.