Thread: Boy am I glad that I purchased the practice strop!

So I purchased a strop from Tony Miller. The 3" red latigo. I asked Tony about the option of adding a practice strop, was it really necessary for a newbie like myself. He answered in the affirmative. "Better to nick the practice than the more expensive strop". Wow was he right! I have read all the stuff and watched the videos. I thought this looks easy, how could I screw up? Well this morning, my second day on the strop, the practice strop that is, I nicked it twice. I turned the blade on the spine and all went well until after my forward pass and flipping the blade to come back, my hand went the wrong way . Same thing happened on the pull stroke. I couldn't believe it. How did I do that? Well all I can say is AM I GLAD I WENT THE $7.50 FOR THE PRACTICE STROP. If any of you new to stropping are considering NOT getting the practice strop, well, I would humbly say rethink that choice.
Mark

Haha, where was this post 2 weeks ago. Put a couple of nicks in my nice Dovo Russian leather with the padded handle. Fortunately they're all at 1 end (the handle end). So the majority of the strop is still OK to use, and it tells me a little something about my stropping technique. Maybe I'll have to buy a practice strop. So much for "I'm not spending any more for a couple of months".

Originally Posted by kenneyty

Haha, where was this post 2 weeks ago. Put a couple of nicks in my nice Dovo Russian leather with the padded handle. Fortunately they're all at 1 end (the handle end). So the majority of the strop is still OK to use, and it tells me a little something about my stropping technique. Maybe I'll have to buy a practice strop. So much for "I'm not spending any more for a couple of months".

Tyler, sorry to hear about your strop. I have read somewhere that minor nicks can be taken out with a bit of sand paper. Thats what I am going to try. Good luck.
Mark