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

Hello, Seraphim:

Your stropping video is a class act, as are you. I have watched it many times with admiration. Oh, by the way, the white smock and towel combination are the height of bathroom fashion.

Regards,

Obie

Originally Posted by JimR

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.

Thanks Jim! This was pretty much my exact point! It's funny that you mention the bowler and his "unorthadox" technique. It's the same in music...according to "classical" guitar technique, you're supposed to keep your thumb on the back of the neck and never bring it up over the top like you're gripping a bat. Nonetheless, doing this exact thing is a huge part of many guitar player's techniques, including my own...and a few amateurs you've prolly never heard of like Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Chet Atkins, Jerry Reed.... =)

The point is, one you know the "rules" and why they are in place, you'll know why you should break them =)

That said, I don't have the experience to strop like this guy (Liam). I'm sure it takes decades of practice...and remember, this guy isn't just shaving himself every day, he probably shaves 3-5 customers every day too, which means he's got a lot of experience with a strop and razor.

In other words, DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME KIDS!!!

And by "kids" i mean newbs like me

That strop looks very flexible. Maybe his unconventional method works on that strop, but it might not on mine.

I agree he seems to blow a couple of strokes lifting the spine but in the slow mo you can see the spine has good contact deflecting the leather around it and trailing the edge on a flat strop. You could only do that on a verrry soft strop.
His strokes are actually straight tho the strop bends.
This is an old video I've seen a bunch of times but this is the first time I noticed how light his razor hand is. He does close his fist on the return stroke but on the push stroke you can see daylight between his fingers.