Thread: Strop tension too much?

I have been shaving with a straight razor for about 6 months now
Daily shaves in the last 4 months, so I am still quite new to the art

In the past few weeks I have had some dulling to the edges of my Razors
The shaves have been a bit grabby and felt like the edge wasn't sharp
Irritation has been a little more than I am comfortable with
I have had a member here do a touch up hone on 2 of my razors a few weeks ago
It feels like the egde only lasted a few shaves before feeling dull

I have recently also concentrated more on my stropping by keeping tension on the strop
The tension I have on the strop feels quite tight, it seems this is the advice from many Forum members
Is it possible to use too much tension when stropping?
Could this dull the edge of a Razor?
What is actually happening to the edge if the strop is too tight?

Today I watched a You Tube video of Lynn stropping a Razor
It seems the tension used in the video is not as high as I use atm
So I am more confused now. tight strop or not tight.
How to get it right.

I appreciate any input from all members

Rick

Hey Rick,

Stropping is a really big can of worms. I believe that if you get 10 members that respond to this post, all ten will have tweaked something about their stropping to make it work for them. Many people say keep the strop "taught", as in keep it straight with no slack.

I had a really nice strop early on, and I had so much tension on it, and wasn't paying attention to how things felt, that I ended up twisting the leather slightly. From that moment on, I began to concentrate on a tension that worked for me.

If I showed you a picture of my strop when I hold it, many would say it has wayyyyy to much slack. But it works for me, and I get consistent, repeatable results from how I do it. I think you should try and experiment with tensions to see what works best for you, really tight, just taught, or a bit of slack. Really pay attention to the edge and how it feels. When you test a stropped edge and say "Wow....that's nice", then attempt to repeat that edge by stropping the same way for your next shave.

Concerning the touch-up, you could have rolled and edge, or the touch-up for some reason could have gone awry. If you have anything with magnification, have a gander at the cutting edge to see what kind of shape its in.

Hope this helps.

You can't damage the edge by having the strop too tight.
I strop on paddle strop quite often and the edges come out quite nice.
I would say your edges are at a point where they need a refresh on a pasted strop or a hone.

All I use is a Paddle Strop. It is flat, doesn't bend at all, and I've experienced no problems.

Many thanks to all for their input

To Maxi

Thanks for your informative reply
My early stropping was done on a paddle strop
Moved on to a Poor Mans strop
Very few issues with keeping a sharp edge
The learning continues

To Mainaman

I have now had those razors honed again
There are some others that will need honing in the next few weeks
By then the next phase of my shaving journey will have started
I am waiting on a Naniwa 3000/8000 superstone and DMT 325 plate to arrive
Then its on to lapping and learning the hones

To Ace

It's time to get out my paddle strop
And get it working again
Put it into rotation with my hanging strop and poor mans
It could be just the thing to keep my edges sharp

My strop is a strip of 3" wide black latigo glued on a 1x3 board. It doesn't get any tighter than that, and I've had no problems. I might try a hanging strop one day but if it isn't broke I really don't want to fix it.

A hanging strop should be comfortably tight with a bit of deflection. Many find using a paddle easier because its already flat and taut and the holding part is simplified. Probably your stroke is not right and that's why you are having problems. Sounds like rounding the edge which is common. It takes practice.

The reason I normally recommend just keeping the strop taught vs. holding it so tight that your arm cramps is that stropping really needs to be done with the muscles more relaxed. I find that when someone puts a death grip on pulling the strop tight, that they also end up using significant pressure on the razor when stropping and a lot of times will actually roll the edges by lifting up at the end of the stroke. Stropping is one of those things where you really have to find your own rhythm and comfort level on the tension and this does take a little pressure as Nelson indicates. To me, the keys are not too fast, but not too slow and you want a little pressure, but not to much or too little. Being tentative or too aggressive or too heavy handed is usually where the problems come into play. Many people also nick the strops or don't get the positive effect from stropping by being to tentative as well.

For those people who have a lot of problems with the hanging strop, the paddle is always a good alternative. Personal preference really plays a big part here.

Have fun.

This may open a new can of worms,but has anyone ever put a spring scale on a hangin strop? Fish scale should work.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

A hanging strop should be comfortably tight with a bit of deflection.

+1. Just enough slack for some deflection ensures that your entire blade is in contact with the strop for the full stroke.