Watching the two wiki stropping videos....

**Hillie** · 04-26-2009, 08:45 PM

....I wonder: There's Seraphim's (spelling?) clip on the left, which looks like an almost floppy strop and he seems to fly across the strop really fast, whereas the Canadian gentleman on the righthand side has a seemingly "better" method, although I don't want to pass judgement.

I am just a beginner, but are there things in these videos a n00b like myself should pay attention to, and maybe more importantly, watch out for? I'm talking about the clips found here.

Thanks for any hints!

**Rajagra** · 04-26-2009, 09:20 PM

Although Seraphim's strop seems to be bouncing up and down, it isn't actually bending much. The angle and closeness of the camera exaggerate how it looks. Having said that, his strop seems to be made from very thin, supple leather so it is bending around the blade a bit. But nothing like as much as when the pro barbers do it...
YouTube - A Shave at the Waldorf Barbershop

**Bart** · 04-26-2009, 09:30 PM

I have no doubt that both those gentlemen have excellent stropping results, but neither of them goes "by the book". When it comes to stropping, there are many ways to do it, and it would be easy to get into a debate on which method is best. In the end, it does not matter, as long as you're getting the results you should.
I think it's important to generate some draw and some speed, so you get sufficient friction for the stropping to be effective, and it's also important to keep the edge and spine in good contact with the strop.
The barbering textbooks I have read, advice more or less what you see in the right video, with the exception that they promote to turn the razor between thumb and index finger, instead of turning the wrist. This is the traditional way, and it is shown here, correctly demontrated by SRP-member Sticky:
YouTube - Flip a razor for stropping.

**Hillie** · 04-26-2009, 10:18 PM

Me being a tad clumsy doesn't help with that, I am continuously on the verge of losing control of the razor when doing the finger flip and I get about 10 strokes a minute. A bit of wrist action work seems to work better for me.

But then again, I guess some guys just have the experience in the wrist, while other are more of the fingerstyle approach.

Thank you guys for the links, I'll check those out!

**Hillie** · 04-26-2009, 10:26 PM

Rajagra, that was just a lovely video to watch. About the stropping: It looks like the thing is flopping all over the place (I have reduced the amount of pull on the strop too, like yourself I started out pulling down walls here

).

But the rest of the video! Man, I'm considering telling my boss to stuff it, that I'll have a home office and I'll move in next to this barber shop. Ditch all my gear and just get the luxury shave every day. What a life.....

**Hillie** · 04-27-2009, 09:27 PM

Thanks again Bart for posting that video, I punched myself and just sat down reading a little on my screen while flipping the razor over in my hand. Doing that a number of times in a couple of minutes stretch each time helped me get some "muscle memory".

**Bart** · 04-27-2009, 09:58 PM

Originally Posted by Hillie

Thanks again Bart for posting that video, I punched myself and just sat down reading a little on my screen while flipping the razor over in my hand. Doing that a number of times in a couple of minutes stretch each time helped me get some "muscle memory".

For what it's worth, Hillie, I started out as a wrist turner, and decided to go by the book later on. It definitely helped me to improve my stropping.
But like I said in the earlier post, the only important thing is that the razor meets the leather in the right way, so you won't hear me say that the guys in the wiki videos are wrong. Only that I'm a fan of the traditional method. Those old barbering schools knew what they were teaching.

Kind regards,
Bart.

**jockeys** · 04-27-2009, 10:35 PM

Originally Posted by Hillie

But then again, I guess some guys just have the experience in the wrist, while other are more of the fingerstyle approach.

for another example of a stropping style, follow the second link in my sig and watch the third video. i sort of use a hybrid style. my wrist moves some, and my fingers move some.

**Hillie** · 04-28-2009, 01:19 PM

Thanks, I'll take a look at that at home. I think most people do always have a mixture of both. My stropping has improved already, or at least, I am getting the strong idea it has.

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Watching the two wiki stropping videos....

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