1st attempt at stropping - nicked my strop

I just completed my first straight razor shave with my new razor and strop set up from SRD. Face and shave were great. I was pleasantly surprised, no nicks, weepers or burn. I would go as far as to call it a DFS. My technique needs some work, but I was slow and patient.

Unfortunately my strop did not fair as well. I have a new SRD 3" strop. This was the first time I ever attempted to strop a razor. I ended up with a few minor nicks on the end of the strop closest to me and the heel of the blade.

What am I doing wrong? I used slow strokes and rolled on the spine. I had no issues with the far end of stropping stroke. What do I need to do, if anything, to address or fix the nicks on the strop?

Thanks

Welcome to SRD.

Slow stropping passes are not too good an idea. There is a rather nice article on stropping in our Wiki: Razor stropping - Straight Razor Place Wiki. "A few nicks" is certainly too much. You are not stropping with the edge leading, are you?

Superficial nicks can be removed using this method: Strop treatment and repair - Straight Razor Place Wiki.

Thanks for the quick reply. I will review the sights referenced.

I am stropping away from the blade. That is why I was so surprised to see the nicks in the leather.

You might accidentally have moved the razor a bit towards you when it was turned over on your side. Moving too fast isn't good, but too slow often brings the "uncertain shakes". Also, keep an eye on whether you really keep the spine on the leather on your end. A small lift may cause a nick, besides the very likely dulling of the edge.

I did the same thing as Summit. Put a small nick in my strop the first time I used it. I think I flipped the blade in the wrong direction. Anyway, thanks for the advice on repairing it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hillie

You might accidentally have moved the razor a bit towards you when it was turned over on your side.

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I know this is what i did this weekend with my first stropping...luckily its on the TM practice strop.

Its really easy to do when you are going slow cuz you stop at the end of each stroke...once i started to keep going smoothly i stopped making the back movement and nicking the strop...

these little nicks i made would in now way effect the strop...they are so tiny...but im glad they are on a $7 strop not a $70 strop

Hey guys, I nicked my strop today too -- my
brand new SRP Premium. I was stropping a
seriously hefty blade that isn't mine, and I'm
not used to that kind of blade, nor the 3"
wide strop.

It happens!

- Scott

Lift the edge of the razor off the strop BEFORE the end of the stroke . I had the same problem , and that's how I solved it .

I find that the harder I try to be careful the less at ease I am and this gives rise to a jerky, uneven stroke, especially if I try to go slowly.

Practising with a dull razor on a cheap strop is a good way to get the technique down with nothing to lose. It's a bit like riding a bike, you need a certain amount of speed to stay stable.

And definately start to life the edge off the strop before the end of the stroke, if I keep the blade sat flat on the strop then just the tiny movement in my arm from the heartbeat can be enough to cause a tiny nick.

a little rubber cement should glue the "flaps" back down

if they are large that is

Welcome to the board! I trashed my first strop learning how to do it and that took forever. It just goes with the territory.

The most useful advice (and perhaps shortest) that I ever saw on stropping came from AFDavis11, "Keep the strop taut. Go slow, fluid. Roll the edge over the spine before you get to the end of the strop and start moving back before the edge touches down."

I would add to let speed take care of itself, naturally.