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I just started shaving with a straight razor, and I'm worried that my stropping isn't up to snuff. I know that it will take a little while to get it fully down, but I just want to make sure that I'm not doing something blatantly wrong. As you'll see in the video, I'm laying the strop on my kitchen counter so that I don't have to fuss with the strop tension at the moment. I look forward to any advice you gents may have.
http://youtu.be/0l5pELZ_3yY
It looks as if you are keeping the blade flat on the leather and not using much pressure, this is good, but you may wish to change from an arcing motion to what we call an X pattern stroke. Please check out some of the honing videos done by AFDavis11 and hi_bud_gl. For the most part it looked good to me.
looks fine to me. i tend to roll the blade between my fingers a little more perhaps and not turn my wrist so much but i don't see that mattering either way.
Thanks for the responses. I feel better about my technique now. I'm trying to get the x pattern down along with rolling the blade in my fingers. The razor I have has a loose pivot, so I'm holding the scales a bit tighter than I'd like to keep them from flopping around. Is there an easy way to tighten a pivot?
Lay it on a piece of metal and lightly tap the pin with a hammer.
Practice with a butter knife when you want to try out a different stroke pattern, or try with a hanging strop. That way you won't damage your strop or your razor's edge when you're trying to get a feel for the movement.
I use a paddle strop, essentially the same setup. I have had difficulty with going "sideways" in front of me, and instead I place the paddle strop "vertically" in front of me with one end toward my chest while the other is straight away from me. In your case, you could mount the strop on a book or something else to get it raised above the table, giving you room for your hand. It works great for me, and I get fine results. This can be done on a desk and is very comfortable.
Your doing just fine.
Yeah, like the others said, it looks quite OK, except it looks really unnatural for you. I'd jump right in there and attach the strop to something (I use a carabiner to attach it to the towel rail) and strop 'normally' so to speak...
I think you're on the right track. :tu A bit more of an X pattern, mostly on your pull stroke (back toward your body), and a tad more roll between your fingers. This will come with patience and practice.
Can't critique that! There's not enough evidence! I can't find a single nick in that strop!! Looking good, +1 on the x stroke. Keep having fun!!
Regards,
Howard
Less wrist motion will give you better control but so far so good. You can use a toothbrush to practice the flip. No need to use the razor.
I'd also move the strop right to the edge of the table. Don't want to hit the bench if you slip off the leather.
Looks pretty good. No stopping though. Get that razor on the move-on in the other direction as soon as it starts flipping. You've got a pretty good, semi-disciplined pattern going on.
Its good to hear that I'm not doing anything overtly wrong. After this morning's shave, I went ahead and hung the strop and used it the "normal way" and didn't have any issues... even got the x pattern down a little better. Now I'm just waiting on my razor from Whipped Dog to get here. I had been using a razor that I purchased from Larry, but I smacked it on the sink Wednesday morning and ruined the edge. So I sent it back and traded for another one. In the meantime I'm using a razor that's been borrowed from a friend, however after using it twice I've come to the conclusion that it isn't shave-ready like I was told. I even tried a pasted balsa plank to see if that would help out and it hasn't.
and so the next acquisition appears over the horizon... a stone
The rabbit hole only gets deeper, doesn't it? :)
...as the mad hatter puffs merrily away on his pipe... or was that the caterpillar?
You look fine to me, particularly as you are in the early stages of the learning process. Don't worry about a linear X pattern. If your style naturally gravitates toward a windscreen wiper action (like an arc on the strop) that is fine - in fact that is my preferred stroke. I find it ergonomic and effective, and a lot more controllable.
James.