Thread: Common stropping mistakes?

Originally Posted by fccexpert

Some common mistakes:

Too much slack in the strop. Pull it as tight as you can

Too much pressure. Anything more than the weight of the razor is too much

Lifting the spine. This often occurs at the end of the stroke. Listen, you can hear it when you do

Slapping the edge against the strop when you roll the razor. It's called rolling, not flipping for a reason.

Not stropping the entire edge. Use X strokes. They come naturally, don't try to force something else.

+1 on these points and a nice even stroke. The stroke should be comfortable and rythmic. I see a lot of guys want to go incredibly fast like in the movies. Definite no-no. Too slow is not good either. Nice steady stroke with the blade completely flat on a taught strop will work. You can actually hear the edge go from a higher pitch to a duller pitch as you strop the razor. More so right after honing.

And believe it or not, we still see people rolling the razor on the edge vise the spine. Don't do dat!!

Have fun,

Lynn