Thread: Help stropping !!!!

My stopping is terrible I'm getting great shaves out of newly honed razors after one shave then it becomes a battle pulling and non smooth razor strokes. Anybody have any tips for stropping? I nicked the hell out of my cheap begginers strop I'm having a hard time keeping the spine flat on the strop it's difficult for me not to twist my wrist and finding the spine comes off the strop during strokes any way to pratice wo destroying razors!!

What you can do is practice with a dull spare razor or a butter knife; practice the flip while still in motion. Keeping the strop taut will help the spine stay flat as well. A little wrist movement isn't a bad thing either. Keep your wrist/elbow level or slightly elevated relative to the strop, and be sure that your stroke is perpendicular to the strop during the lap.

This isn't a race, so practice slow deliberate strokes until you feel not only comfortable but confident. Speed will come in time.

Suggestion, FWIW:

Hold the razor flat on the strop. You should have your thumb and forefinger on the shank, and the scales should be in a straight line with the blade.

Trying not to twist your wrist at all, flip the razor over (keeping the spine on the strop) just by twisting the shank between your thumb and forefinger.

Twist it back.

When you have learned that motion in your muscles (not just in your brain), the correct stropping motion is like this:

. . . Keep the strop tight;

. . . Strop the razor up the strop;

. . . As you slow down the stroke at the top, start the flip;

. . . when the edge is vertical, start moving down the razor, and continue the flip so the edge is back on the strop;

. . . When you slow down the stroke at the bottom, start the flip;

. . . When the edge is vertical, start moving _up_ the razor, and continue the flip so the edge is back on the strop.

There's at least one video that shows this action very clearly. If you do it right (and you must start with _slow_ practice), you will avoid nicking the strop.

The strop can bend a little bit around the spine. It _must not_ bend around the edge. If it bends around the edge, it'll round it off.

The cure for bending around the edge is either:

. . . tighten the strop, or

. . . reduce the pressure on the edge, or

. . . both of the above.

Butter knives are good, but I just slowed things down till I could get the timing right.

Charles

lay the razor flat
Pull your strop tight..NOT too tight..leave some room for "flex"

use JUST the weight of the blade

go lightly top to bottom

Flip the blade..repeat

You could always get a cheapo Eboy special just to practice stropping with and grind off the edge.
When I started I knew nothing of "proper procedure" and these sites didn't exist so I flip the razor by turning my wrist. So it can be done that way but if you are learning it's best to do it the proper way. It just takes practice and concentration.

Stropping is one of those things people don't think much about and just blow it off but it ain't as easy as it looks and is very important.

Copper, The best I've seen on it has been this thread
http://straightrazorpalace.com/begin...ch-2011-a.html

To put it mildly, I was horrible at stropping. I think my strops survived - just so they could get revenge.

Watch afdavis video. Also watch Lynn's video on stropping. They are both great.

Watch how Lynn holds the hanging strop. He holds both fabric and leather at the same time. He isn't pulling hard, it's taught with some slack. I have copied this with good success.

Michael

Your not going to be good at stropping right away, it's practice, practice, practice.
Best not to use your shaving razor for this point in your wet-shaving training. As has been stated above, butter knive's won't knick your leather strop. Use a Shavette to learn how to use a Str8 razor while you spend some time, maybe 2 or 3 weeks worth of practice, 10 to 15 minutes twice a day would be enough.
It worked for me! And as a result I"m no slouch shaving with a shavette either!!

Originally Posted by Airportcopper

My stopping is terrible I'm getting great shaves out of newly honed razors after one shave then it becomes a battle pulling and non smooth razor strokes. Anybody have any tips for stropping? I nicked the hell out of my cheap begginers strop I'm having a hard time keeping the spine flat on the strop it's difficult for me not to twist my wrist and finding the spine comes off the strop during strokes any way to pratice wo destroying razors!!

That's the final frontier for me after two years of straight shaving. I'm determined to do it without bending my wrist, and I've found stropping the toughest nut to crack. Keep trying!

I've noticed a couple of recent YouTube videos of people who have given up trying to do it the "correct" way, but I don't want to be one of those people.

The best advice I can give you is watch AFDavis's video (it is a sticky in the stropping forum) and practise. A lot. And then, once you've practised a lot, get out there and practice some more.

Being new this is the best advice I can give. I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong until I watched this video and realized I was curling my wrist during the razor flip cause uneven pressure and blade contact.

One thing that helped me was practicing the movements holding the razor slightly above the strop. This allowed me to get a feel for the razor in my hand combined with the movements of stropping. Plus holding it above the strop helped me find a rhythm that I would use if actually stropping.