Flip the blade or rotate the wrists?

**souschefdude** · 09-26-2010, 04:23 PM

So what is your preferred method when stropping? Do you hold the tang still and rotate your wrists, or do you 'flip' the tang in your fingers to turn the blade over?
I tend to flip the blade, but I am a newbie, and last night the blade got a little Scwewy on the return pass and I nicked my strop. I then tried to just rotate my wrist, but it seems awkward.....perhaps it is just a matter of training muscle memory all over again.

**ben.mid** · 09-26-2010, 04:29 PM

You should be flipping the blade, so you're teaching yourself to do it the right way. If you take it too fast or allow your fingers to lose control you may well damage the strop. I'd keep at it without rotating your wrist. The strop damage is simply part of the learning process for most of us, I'm afraid! You'll get there in the end.

**JimmyHAD** · 09-26-2010, 04:43 PM

This 1961 barber manual excerpt here helped me a lot. Hold the tang with the tip of your thumb on the bottom of the tang and your forefinger tip on the top of the tang. Practice flipping the razor without doing the stroke. Just the flip. When you have that down begin a slow steady rhythmic stroke. Speed will come as you practice.

**markevens** · 09-26-2010, 05:34 PM

This video helped my stropping technique tremendously.

YouTube - straight razor stropping

**Del1r1um** · 09-26-2010, 07:58 PM

I flip, but it took time

**BlacknTan** · 09-26-2010, 09:52 PM

Sham's video, posted above, is the best one I've seen, and it helped me quite a bit!
I flip, but there is a slight bit of wrist action also... I continue to try to minimize it.

Stropping was far and away the most challenging aspect of straight razor shaving for me!

**thebigspendur** · 09-26-2010, 10:05 PM

I learned this stuff before these sites existed so it was all up to me so I rotate the wrist which is of course wrong. I can do it without moving my wrists but it makes things much slower and awkward for me. I guess you can't teach an old dog new tricks. My way works for me right or wrong.

**MickR** · 09-26-2010, 11:32 PM

I smack bang in the middle here, I actually flip the blade and slightly rotate the wrist...Another self taught technique I'm afraid.

Mick

**souschefdude** · 09-27-2010, 12:02 AM

So I guess I am doing it well, since I do flip.
Probably what got me last night was that I was stropping a 100 strokes, and had a momentary lapse of concentration.
I must say, this whole escapade into Str8 shaving is teaching me patience and concentration, two things lacking in my world recent;y.
Thanks for the Barber Manual, and the video.
I want to find the rest of that barber manual...
Off to look for it....

**thorxes** · 09-27-2010, 09:27 PM

I found that it was easier to strop with the flip if the strop is waist high.

If it's higher than that, say on a towel rack, then flipping the wrist works better.

Ideally though, I think you should have the strop waist high anyways.

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