So I was thinking, just how many of us still occasionally nick/slice their strop? come on don't be shy now!
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So I was thinking, just how many of us still occasionally nick/slice their strop? come on don't be shy now!
I voted yes, But then I'm a newbe so I guess I'm forgiven...I hope:p
But I'am also improving:D
I knicked my strop consistently for the first week, and by the end of month one, I had the pattern down so that I don't nick my strop any longer...which is not to say that I'm not careful anymore - the threat of nicking the strop is omnipresent, and when you go to a 3' Tony Miller Latigo strop, you ALWAYS pay attention!
Good luck, and keep at it!
Mark
Thats the problem, I have an 3" Tony Miller strop! luckily I have not taken any large chunks out of it but I'd say I may have grazed it:gaah:Quote:
Originally Posted by Milton Man
Regards Mark
You know what? I just stropped and thought "hey this is going really well" and when I was just about to finish..my strop got the worst nick so far:gaah:
"Just as I thought I was out, they pulled me back in"
I was bold enough to answer "Never" since I haven't nicked a strop in probably six months or more of daily shaving, but I probably should have changed it to occasionally since no one can predict the future. My technique at this point is such that it makes for the potential of nicking a strop difficult to do.
The barbers knew what they were doing. I recommend to anyone to read the excerpts from the barbers manual on stropping to glean valuable info.
I just listed a handmade strop in the classifieds and will be listing two more tonight. I created a "down and dirty" 15 minute stropping video to go along with them which arms the beginner with a visual example of a proper technique to avoid the pitfalls of reinventing the wheel when stropping for the first few times until it becomes second nature.
Chris L
It happens every now and then. (after more than a year) Like we all do, I turn the razor over the spine at the end of the stroke. 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.
Maybe it's time to device yet another test: the SNT (Strop Nicking Test). :D
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
It occasionally happens to me/
For the sake of efficiency, I cut my first Dovo into tiny little pieces in order to get rid of all the potential nicking power in my razors. As expected, this has worked. My Old Traditional is completely devoid of nicks.
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......Quote:
Originally Posted by jwoods
Chris L
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bart
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fraserazor
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 TOPIC:OTbut 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: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:D
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 :shrug:
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.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cybrok
Same here after a month. I was concentrating on my wirst movement when it happened. :gaah: 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! :D
I answered Ocasionally.
I nicked my strop in the first use.
I started off nice a careful and though 'man this is cool, I am really shaving old school now :rock: ...' then I nick the edge. That slowed me down and since then I have onle grazed it twice. But none in the last few months.
I dont think i have ever nicked a strop. I did alot of reserch befor i started shaving, watched at least 3 vids on stroping and read more.
Plus im a very patient person (at times) so i have only recently started speeding up my stroping. I have slightly/almost caught the razor on a turn, but its never grabed.
+Buckler
I nicked mine a few times when it was new, but have since been much more careful. I find I only nick it when I stop mid-stroke to see if the blade it contacting the strop evenly...I don't know why, but that's when I've had the slightest waiver in my grip, and BAM, a little nick.
Dave
I started with the 3" tony miller latigo. I received it as a gift for my birthday... it has a few nicks in itQuote:
Originally Posted by Milton Man
:cry::cen:cen:cry:
oh well
If you don't nick them, there's never a need to buy a new one No fun in that.
Well, wouldn't cha know, six months + of daily shaves since my last strop nick. I go ahead and open my big mouth and......NICK there she goes this morning. A nice old nick on a horsehide. Serves me right!:cry::fim:Quote:
Originally Posted by jwoods
Chris L
My stropping generally goes well, until I start thinking about it. It's like playing a difficult but well practiced piece on the piano. The moment you start consciously thinking about what your fingers are doing, you'll start loosing it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris L
Possibly that statement will cause you to completely slice up that horsehide during the course of the next few days.:eek::gth
Bart.
I totaly agree with this, the more you try to think about it-the harder it is to focus. I feel for you Chris L, don't you just hate it!Quote:
Originally Posted by Bart
Curse this thread, after 4 months of not nicking my strop, I put a nick in it this morning. It's not too bad though, oh well.
Well, all us new guys are going to feel better 'cause everybody's strop is going to look the same now :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Mike7120
I keep telling myself I don’t nick my strop, but the little devils keep showing up.
I don't anymore, although my speed has really gone up, and sometimes I have a tendency to get ahead of myself so I have to back off a bit. I'll get goin' too fast and get confused as to where I'm at. So far, no accidents.
Any of you ever see LX Emergency's (Alex)video? Wow! That boy can really fly!
Steve
I've actually never knicked my strop, though there are two small ones from the strop's previous owned. Up till a few days ago, I'd never dropped a razor, and I've never damaged any of my razor's edges (while shaving, rinsing, etc). I must just be a careful shaver...
I haven't nicked mine for months, but sometimes I will leave a scratch from the toe when doing the "X" pattern. It's always on the down stroke and buffs out with the palm of the hand. One time I gave her a good rubdown with the Chinese 12k and seemed to smooth out any small nicks that resulted from flipping the blade when first learning. I'm so glad that my edges are free from cuts, I love my 3" Tony Miller and would hate to see her share the same fate as my practice strop.