Bad stroke on linen: very easy to do

I figured out the mystery of how I've been rolling my edges. I haven't been rolling them: I've been eating them off by mis-stroking on the linen.

I use VERY VERY light pressure. Even the weight of the razor is too much if it's a heavy razor. Even so, every few weeks, I'll screw up & do a bad stroke. A bad stroke feels like the nap of the linen is catching the edge at the end of the stroke. It's a very subtle feeling. What I must be doing, even though I'm not consciously aware of it, is failing to lift the razor completely off the linen before I start returning the blade toward me for the next stroke, so that the cutting edge just barely catches against the nap. All it takes is one bad stroke to completely destroy the cutting edge. It's very easy to do this.

Anyone else ever have this happen? For the time being, I've forsaken the linen entirely, using a homemade Latigo strop instead.

i am fairly new to the world of straight razors i have only been at it for a week or so my strop has a linnen and leather side i have not used the linen side yet and after reading your post i dont think i will id hate to mess up my edge

You will do damage to the edge on the leather, if you make the same mistake you have on linen. If you miss stroke on the linen, you are just as likely doing it on the leather also. No reason to stop using either.

PuFF

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Originally Posted by Johnny J

Anyone else ever have this happen?

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I did that on my leather several times one day, and have not done it since. For me it was a result of being too sloppy in an effort to let the blade strop for me or something

If you lift the blade for each stroke, that is a risk factor inherent to the technique. Not saying it's impossible to do just that it's safer to flip the razor on its spine. That way the razor only leaves the strop when you finish.

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Originally Posted by PuFFaH

You will do damage to the edge on the leather, if you make the same mistake you have on linen. If you miss stroke on the linen, you are just as likely doing it on the leather also. No reason to stop using either.
PuFF

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For some reason I have never done it on leather, only linen. I have no idea why.

Are you rolling the blade on the spine or lifting it with edge towards strop?

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Originally Posted by Johnny J

For some reason I have never done it on leather, only linen. I have no idea why.

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That is possible due to the draw from leather.

PuFF

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Originally Posted by PuFFaH

You will do damage to the edge on the leather, if you make the same mistake you have on linen. If you miss stroke on the linen, you are just as likely doing it on the leather also. No reason to stop using either.

PuFF

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I was going to say the exact same thing that Puff did here. It's those imperceptible forward jerks at the end of a stroke which leads me to.........

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Originally Posted by onimaru55

If you lift the blade for each stroke, that is a risk factor inherent to the technique. Not saying it's impossible to do just that it's safer to flip the razor on its spine. That way the razor only leaves the strop when you finish.

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.......having the same question; do you lift the spine of the razor off the strop at ANY point during your stropping sessions? Keeping the spine in contact with the strop at ALL times during the stropping procedure has reduced nicking my strops down to a few times per year.

Chris L

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Originally Posted by Chris L

I was going to say the exact same thing that Puff did here. It's those imperceptible forward jerks at the end of a stroke which leads me to.........



.......having the same question; do you lift the spine of the razor off the strop at ANY point during your stropping sessions? Keeping the spine in contact with the strop at ALL times during the stropping procedure has reduced nicking my strops down to a few times per year.

Chris L

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I did this a bunch of times while learning to strop. I never lifted the spine. What happens is that you reach the end of a stroke and there's a little "back lash". It's tough to start to lift the edge before stopping completely in order to reverse direction. So you stop, then there's a slight reverse direction like when you stop a car and it rocks back slightly, then you lift the edge to roll it on the spine -- too late, there's a slight nick or catch.

What I finally found to completely eliminate this was to shorten the stroke. Initially I seemed to want to use almost the full length of the stropping surface. I think the slight reverse was a result of approaching the end of the strop and making a concious effort to stop. I now sort of stop on the middle 2/3's of the stropping area. It actually turns out that I go further than that but there is a very gradual stop to reverse direction and no more recoil.

Know what you mean. Ppl try to use the whole strop and then in order to avoid hitting all the hardware etc at the end they end up with 'hesitation cuts'. Flipping the spine sooner & using a shorter stroke makes all the difference.
So it's like there's no real stop just a change in direction.
A slightly loose strop also prevents upward recoil of the leather but that's not a popular technique here. :p

I'd recommend just slowing down a little....haste makes waste.

Linen is great for my edges and really helps them stay keen longer. SLOW down and pay attention to your technique and the speed will come later as you develop the muscle memory.

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Originally Posted by iron maiden

I'd recommend just slowing down a little....haste makes waste.

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Originally Posted by Quick

I did this a bunch of times while learning to strop. I never lifted the spine. What happens is that you reach the end of a stroke and there's a little "back lash". It's tough to start to lift the edge before stopping completely in order to reverse direction. So you stop, then there's a slight reverse direction like when you stop a car and it rocks back slightly, then you lift the edge to roll it on the spine -- too late, there's a slight nick or catch.

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Yes. This is what I'm doing. I have to go much slower & be much more careful. For me, though, although the linen is indeed a more aggressive burnisher than leather, it doesn't amount to much because my beard inflicts so much destruction that I have to touch it up pretty frequently anyway. So I may ditch the linen just for the sake of eliminating one more piece of paraphernalia. Or I may not. I haven't decided.

Edit: for the record, I do not lift the spine when I strop. I realize my initial post gives the impression that I do lift the spine. I worded it badly. Instead of "failing to lift the razor completely off the linen," I should have said "failing to roll the edge completely off the linen." My mistake.