Thread: Not Using X Stroke, Diagonal Only

I don't know any more what I think. I'm thinking in a traditional X stroke, the heel starts top left side of the strop, ends bottom right of the strop. Then you flip the blade, and heel starts bottom left, end top right.

In MY stroke, heel starts top left, ends bottom right, I then flip, heel starts bottom right, ends top left. Again, it's just one diagonal of the X top left to bottom right, then bottom right to top left. I don't do bottom left to top right

I beieve what you are saying is you go from heel to toe, then, from toe to heel. That is a little different, but I see no reason why that should be discouraged.

Originally Posted by mjsorkin

Carl,

I know what you are getting at. You go down on the way out, then come back up on the way back. You don't go back to the top at each end. Sound about right?

There was a huge thread on this a while back. A guy was promoting this method as a big time saver. Other posters thought it went against the striations of the blade. I'll try and find it and if I can I will update this post with the link

Update: I didn't find it.


Michael

Awesome!

I don't think the razor or strop will notice the difference, and your results speak for themselves.

It might help if you whisper gently as you strop: "this is an X-stroke, this is an X-stroke".

It really doesn't matter IMO. If it works for you, that's great!

Personally, I have not done an X stroke on a strop for 5 years. I find it fairly pointless (why does a strop need to hit the entire edge of a razor on each stroke?) and a needlessly un-ergonomic and unnatural action for the way my arm works. I either go straight up and back, or I use a curved stroke. If I am on a narrow strop, I strop bits of the edge at a time until the whole edge is done - usually that just happens in two bits: heel to middle, then middle to toe. Again, strops do not remove metal like hones do, so who cares that the entire edge gets hit on each stroke or not?

James.

Yes, it's fine. Strops don't have striations. when we say that we are aligning steel with a strop, what we should really be depicting is the steel aligned lengthwise down the edge. It's as if all the steel should be piled onto itself, like if you were to align sand in a straight, thin line. So any full stroke is effective.

Thank you for the replies, I was thinking maybe I was quite mad for a little while there :-)

Well I just tried your technique Carl and I got to say I dont hate it. Its not a bad motion at all.
Hmmmmm. You might be on to something here.

That is exactly the same technique that I use. I am more accurate and faster with it.
That's just what happened naturally while I was learning how to strop without anyone there to teach me. Now it's
the most natural movement for me.

Works great!

Originally Posted by carlmaloschneider

Thank you for the replies, I was thinking maybe I was quite mad for a little while there :-)

You post on SRP, of course you're quite mad!