Thread: Can someone teach this guy how to strop a razor?

not pulling the Strop completely tight is what did the trick for me
when I had stropping issues. Of course, the leather has to be very smooth and pliable to do this.
I now give the leather (kanayama horse) 1-2cm when stropping.

There is nothing wrong with it, as long as it works.
I never read a *law* on our wiki. I only see rules.
The difference is a rule can be broken and there are circumstance they don´t apply to.

So the rule to pull a a strop tightly is not a law

My issue with the OP stropping example is not the slack in the strop, but rather the fact that the guy is definitely lifting the spine as he strops.

I'm a stropping noob and have been following the videos on here.

This guy looks like he is doing it properly - just way faster than what I could.

What was it that appears to be wrong?

- Speed?
- Not keeping the strop tight?
- Lifting the spine?

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

Just cause there is an old guy dressed like a barber doing something with a straight razor doesn't mean it's right. Has that guy shaved you or someone you trust? Have you or someone you trust used his razors yourselves? If I told you I was Dr Holli4Pirating and I had a white coat and a stethoscope and a clipboard, would you believe my medical advice.

But, for the record, recent stropping threads from some of the SRP innovators have been talking about playing with "deflection" and "pressure."

I respectfully disagree. This is a professional that has more experience with a straight razor than I may have in my entire life. He's not some fake running around practicing some type of quasi-science in a lab coat he got off E-Bay. Can we think about this? You have a guy that was trained in the day of the straight and has kept the art alive by practicing it for decades. Yep, his method is unorthodox, but since when does that mean that method is "wrong"?

Originally Posted by JonnyO

I respectfully disagree. This is a professional that has more experience with a straight razor than I may have in my entire life. He's not some fake running around practicing some type of quasi-science in a lab coat he got off E-Bay. Can we think about this? You have a guy that was trained in the day of the straight and has kept the art alive by practicing it for decades. Yep, his method is unorthodox, but since when does that mean that method is "wrong"?

You do realize I had no idea who the guy was when I wrote that post, right?

Looks to me like he's demonstrating how not to strop . If this is a demonstration of proper stropping technique , then what is improper technique ?

I like the way Mr. Finnegan keeps his strop hopping. Quite the flair has he.

Originally Posted by dave5225

Looks to me like he's demonstrating how not to strop . If this is a demonstration of proper stropping technique , then what is improper technique ?

He's not trying to show people "how to strop", this is a documentary of how he does it. There is a series of videos about the Waldorf barbershop in Dublin, Ireland, showing this barber (Liam is his name, I believe) and his traditional way of doing things. There is also a video of him sharpening a straight on a Coti, using slurry. As has been stated, there are members who have gotten shaves from him and were very happy.

The thing that gets me about this thread is, this is a LEAST the 4th thread I've seen about this particular barber, and people always start with the attitude that he doesn't know what he's doing, because he doesn't do things the way people at SRP do. The inherent assumption, that we all know better than anyone else, is troubling.

Mastro Livi does it differently, Liam does it differently, hell probably 99% of the people who have used a straight razor in all of human history have done it differently.

Doing it differently does NOT equal doing it wrong.

My dear JimR:

You speak words of wisdom. I believe as you do in this.

Regards,

Obie

Guys stropping in white lab coats/barber smocks/straight jackets are usually mentally unstable individuals.

YouTube - Stropping