Thread: I destroyed my brand new strop in 3 weeks with nicks

Originally Posted by a_macdiarmid

the only way i can see that your putting cuts in it like that is at the end of a stroke/beginning of the next your accidentally going in reverse when you want to be in drive. (even if its just slightly). try going real slow on the flip, but as fast as your comfortable on the stroke.

or maybe im missing something.

hope this helps

What he said.
I did the same thing initially, and the problem is that after the flip, the motion still goes forward for a fraction. My first strop looked bad. Recently I bought a new one, and at the end there is one side which still has teeny nicks. They're very small and they have no impact. But that is the cause of those nicks.

Technically, you could cut away the flaps of those nicks and sand down the surface. your strop will not be as nice as when it was new, but it will still work.

you can glue them down aswell specially the deeper ones but i have to ask what your hanging you strop on?? is it a door or something similar that has a little bit of movement if it's not something solid they tend to move the smallest amount at the end of a stroke and leave nicks like you have

Everybody kills their first strop. I killed 2. Your next strop should be "The Filly" from Ruprazor.com. Its high quality leather and just $22. Practice on that one and perfect your technique. When you no longer nick it you can then invest in a more expensive strop if you wish.

Concentrate on the beginning and end of your stroke. Go slow and make sure you are never moving the edge into the leather. Practice and you'll get better at it.

I did the same to my Grandfather's Shumate (Austin, Tx pre-1904) strop. 'Thought I was gonna die! I sanded nicks and re-glued a slice at the top of the finish strop and everything was OK again.

EVERY time I strop, the first couple of strokes are in ULTRA SLOW Motion just to get the "feel" of what is happening. I gently increase the speed until it is smooth and automatic. Another very important thing: Keep the mind clear! Turn off all distractions and noises, including thinking about money, sex, politics, and creation of the universe, etc. One nano second of mind drift is all it takes to screw up a strop, honing, or a shave! Keep the mind centered. It finally worked for me (most difficult thing I ever did to date).

Question 'yall: What happend to fellow member whose signature was, "Snick-snack went the vorpal blade"?... I miss his posts. I hope he is still around. I thought about that signature whilst reading these good posts. Keep healthy, and sane if possible, RRR

Originally Posted by Alucard73

you can glue them down aswell specially the deeper ones but i have to ask what your hanging you strop on?? is it a door or something similar that has a little bit of movement if it's not something solid they tend to move the smallest amount at the end of a stroke and leave nicks like you have

Good point. Several have asked me that, but actually I hang the strop on a very rigid hook screwed into the way. LegalBeagle (a good guy!) showed me how to do the motion right. I bought a super cheap (but larger) strop to augment my $70 DOVO. I covered the cheap strop with mink oil. I'm doing SO MUCH BETTER with it!

Thanks, guys, for all your help.

Originally Posted by timberrr59

I did the same to my Grandfather's Shumate (Austin, Tx pre-1904) strop. 'Thought I was gonna die! I sanded nicks and re-glued a slice at the top of the finish strop and everything was OK again.

EVERY time I strop, the first couple of strokes are in ULTRA SLOW Motion just to get the "feel" of what is happening. I gently increase the speed until it is smooth and automatic. Another very important thing: Keep the mind clear! Turn off all distractions and noises, including thinking about money, sex, politics, and creation of the universe, etc. One nano second of mind drift is all it takes to screw up a strop, honing, or a shave! Keep the mind centered. It finally worked for me (most difficult thing I ever did to date).

I certainly know what you're talking about when you say it's the hardest thing you've ever done. For me, that was learning to sail my old used 22 sailboat on the Potomac River. I learned then that if I let my mind drift more than about 15 seconds, I was risking death.

But that's what I LIKED about it! Total concentration required. The world was shut out. This is what makes straight shaving so great too. Right?

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

Yes, I'm in Fairfax. I can provide lessons. You can stop by my apartment practically any evening. Weekends would be great too.

Alan was as good as his word. Read about my helping visit to his home for more than four hours of stropping and honing fun.

Strops can take a beating, you just cut the flaps from the nicks off and sand down the remaining cuts on the strop and you should be ok again.

I know it's annoying to look at, but I have a TOny Miller strop I cut to crap when I first cut it and it works fine.

+1 on the previous advice. Strops can take a beating, but still be usable. Just sand the nicks and it should continue to be of god service to you.

I agree with jimrobb's post above about the concentration needed. I'm new, but as I practice, my powers of concentration increase, I think I'm getting better at stropping and concentrating. It sure does shut the world our for a while--and that's good.

Also thanks to all about the ways to fix a strop.