Thread: Barber's notch and stropping

+1 to this. Switching to this method helped with stropping my older sheffield razors with the extra wide tangs.

I have not cut any strops since switching either....

Originally Posted by gssixgun

It means you are stropping with your thumb placed on the bottom (Thin Edge) of the tang...

Your thumb should be either on the flat (on the stamp) of the tang or the corner of the tang.. this will eliminate this problem...

Hint: the more different razors you strop, the more you will like the corner, that way it never changes the feel...

I hope this makes sense without a pic

Thanks for the suggestions guys! I think I should be okay! I still haven't used it to shave though...Do you guys notice anything different handling the razor over your face?

Originally Posted by Dups

Thanks for the suggestions guys! I think I should be okay! I still haven't used it to shave though...Do you guys notice anything different handling the razor over your face?

I think the grip they are referring to is for stropping, your shaving grip shouldn't change. JMHO

I find some razors are more difficult to strop because of the thumb notch or if the handle is really narrow. I think the narrow grip is more of a problem than the fact that it has a notch. Especially Japanese razors with a handle that is unwrapped. I take it slow and easy, I know the feeling like you are going to nick the strop (or your face)!
Take care,
Kurt

As you use all types of razors you will find (as others have) there are many types where you will find stropping awkward at first. The thumb notch is one and the ones with the long monkey tales are another and any badly balanced razor is another and some razors with very thick scales too. Probably the very small razors like 2/8s are another. When I strop these I just go very slow because it's easy to lose your grip and that ain't pretty. Sometimes you do have to figure out an alternate grip to suite your style of stropping.