Thread: How many still nicks their strop?

Originally Posted by jwoods

chris you better avoid your good strops now that you said that, lol i am careful not to nick my strops i havent got my new one yet, but when you are tired and in a hurry it happens sometimes, my technique has gotten a lot better

I know, I probably jinxed myself with that. I agree on the tired thing. I learned when stropping in the AM, to stop stropping when I'm actually yawning. Don't ask......

Chris L

Originally Posted by Bart

Sometimes it happens that my turning is completed before the stroke direction is reversed. That millisecond of timing discrepancy is enough for the razor to catch into the leather surface of the strop with a small superficial nick as a result. I have a distinct feeling that the sharper the razor, the more prone this is to happen.

I'm still learning but my superficial nicks (the opposite of yours) are the result taking too long of a stroke. When I stop the stroke to flip the razor over on the spine there is that occassional, tiniest, whiplash and the razor just catches the leather before I turn it over. I have to concentrate on taking shorter strokes so there is room to start turning the razor over before it stops to reverse direction. So far I don't have any problem starting the reverse stroke before the edge gets to the leather.

Originally Posted by Fraserazor

So I was thinking, just how many of us still occasionally nick/slice their strop? come on don't be shy now!

Depends on the strop. For years all I had was a "rough side out" latigo strop and I couldn't figure out how people were nicking their strops. Then I bought a TM horsehide and now I know...from years of nick free stropping to dinging it not once but twice the second time I used the TM.

Thanks for all the replys, I am actually a trained barber of over 10 years experience and when i speak to the old school barbers its kinda disapointing in a way, as regarding the shaving-they say they kept those blades sharp using almost any way possible, sertanly not as sophisticated or spoilt as us with such likes as Shapton or Norton waterstones. But hang on a minute one of the guys was saying an Italian barber he worked with could get the razor so sharp when doing the HHT the hair would just jump away from the razor! SHARP!! I know this is a little OFF TOPICbut I'm getting there, I saw one of there strops and it was pretty cut up!! Barbers stop petty fast!! at a cost though-my T/M strop is not worth rushing through the stropping routine!

Which bings me to my next rant Arn't we so spoilt? what would we have done without those Nortons/Shaptons/Tony Miller Strops!! The guy I spoke about with the mega sharp blade prob only had a barber hone some oil one strop!! but could still get a killer edge, I sure wish that guy was still around!! As the older barber put it "we would keep a blade sharp off of a house brick if needed"!! Sorry to be off topic but stuff has to be said!! I'm what one might call an insider!!

Cheers, Mark

PS, bring back the proper barbershop shave, we are trying but to be honest what we have found is MEN ARE SO LAZY WHEN IT COMES TO SHAVING!!!! We have to educate these people!!

yep.. dont strop when yawning..

It happens to the best of us, so I put down "occasionally" even though it's been about a year since the last time I did it.

I didn't nick my strop for about 5 months into straight shaving until one day when for some still unknown reason I nicked my strop successively 4 or 5 times near the bottom. Haven't nicked it since

I think you mean strap.

I nicked my strop a lot when I first started. For some reason stropping was one of the most difficult things for me to come to grips with out of the whole straight razor process.

Happily, nowadays I don't nick it any more. That's not to say I will not ever do it again, but all those months of nicking and pumicing and swearing helped me figure out what not to do, and I like to think that the technique I developed through that process is fairly bulletproof now.

Would anyone like to take bets that I will nick my strop now?

James.

After 4 months, I made the biggest nick on my strop.

It reminds me I still am a NOOB.

Originally Posted by cybrok

After 4 months, I made the biggest nick on my strop.

It reminds me I still am a NOOB.

Same here after a month. I was concentrating on my wirst movement when it happened. Edge first on the downward direction... What was I thinking! Overconfidence is the problem... I am waiting delivery of a new 3" synthetic strop from Tony. That will heal the pain!