I was bored last night and stropped all my blades (a bit of practice never hurts...). I noticed that I use slightly different grips depending on what razor I strop. E.g. My Heljestrand has a thumb notch on the underside of the shank, and I grip this a little differently to other blades. My Friodur has a thicker shank than my other razors, and I hold this differently too. I also noticed that I'm a lot quicker and smoother on wedges than I am on hollows.

It's something I've never really noticed before or done deliberately - I tend to strop by feel and ear, and my grip obviously adjusts itself so that I get the draw feeling and 'schick' sound.

But I've seen in the barber's manual in the library that the recommended grip doesn't vary - thumb on top of shank, fingers underneath, roll the shank between thumb and fingers.

Is this a fundamental flaw in stropping technique? Has anyone else noticed they change grips? I am an advocate of the "whatever works" school, but I wonder whether a homogenous grip might work better...

James.