In need of some strop practice advice...

So I've got a couple months worth of shaving under my belt and the shaves have been for the most part very good and improving. I rotate a 3-4 razors and only shave every 2-3 days. I have found that I'm having trouble keeping my razors sharp for more than 3 shaves or so and have the inkling that my stropping is the issue. I've got a little Dovo strop, a vintage Manark strop and an SRD modular (pretty much my go to now). I've watch a few videos (thanks hi_bud_gl and AFDavis11) and noticed that my wrist probably moves way more than it should. So I got a dulled out Clauss that I bought from ebay to clean up and just practice flipping it between my finger and thumb without moving my wrist. I hope this will help! I was just wondering if anyone had any other ideas on how I could practice stropping in between shaves without doing too much damage to my strops of razors.

I think you are doing exactly as you should. Watch those videos and practice!

I'm a novice too and was having a similar issue. Eventually, I figured it out and my problem was, I was holding the strop too tight and was putting too much pressure on the blade. Now, I hold the strop just tight enough to keep it straight, I slowed down a lot (too many movies, I think!), and I only put enough pressure on the blade to keep positive contact - so not much more than the weight of the razor.

Good luck!


Haakon

porridgeorange,

Those two (2) videos you mention (hi_bud_gl & AFDavies11) are probably the best I have ever seen on the subject of stropping.

As I use a paddle strop exclusively these days, I have set myself the goal of becoming as accomplished as Mr Davies - I might get there in a century or two :)

I have noticed myself, that very small changes in hand position etc can make a huge difference in the quality of the stropping.

About 18 months ago, I was really in the doldrums stropping wise - I got some advice from Mr Neil Miller, and then saw hi_bud_gls' video tutorial and I noticed that over time I had been my finger/thumb position had moved about 1/4 " on the tang. I put my finger/thimb back to where there were 'originally' and my stropping was back to good - it was like Magic. 1/4 " finger position made all the difference between good and crap stropping !!

Good luck !

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

best advice i can give you is light pressure, keep the strop tense and dont worry about speed just master the turning of the razor first and then work on doning it in a timly manner,

try using a butter knife to get the feel of turning the (razor) a few dozen times so you have a feel for what you are doing so you dont nick your strop up.

I've found laying the strop flat on some books and treating it like a paddle strop eliminates some complicating variables. In fact, I've learned to enjoy stropping while sitting so much, I've reverted to using a paddle strop for most of my stropping. It's simpler to do, less chance of making mistakes, and easier to repeat with precision. I may not look like a Barber when I strop, but at least I can shave like one.

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Originally Posted by porridgeorange

So I've got a couple months worth of shaving under my belt and the shaves have been for the most part very good and improving. I rotate a 3-4 razors and only shave every 2-3 days. I have found that I'm having trouble keeping my razors sharp for more than 3 shaves or so and have the inkling that my stropping is the issue. I've got a little Dovo strop, a vintage Manark strop and an SRD modular (pretty much my go to now). I've watch a few videos (thanks hi_bud_gl and AFDavis11) and noticed that my wrist probably moves way more than it should. So I got a dulled out Clauss that I bought from ebay to clean up and just practice flipping it between my finger and thumb without moving my wrist. I hope this will help! I was just wondering if anyone had any other ideas on how I could practice stropping in between shaves without doing too much damage to my strops of razors.

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I definitely think that you're on the correct track. Keep practicing your flip, and maintain positive edge contact on both your push and pull passes. You'll be there in no time!