Thread: Strop tension: loose or taut?

Hi,

During the sharpening course, the instructor told us that the leather on our paddle strops should be loose. i.e. no tension.
Lynn's shaving movie also shows Lynn stropping on a loose hanging strop (if I interpreted correctly what he was doing.

But there are other posts on this forum with people saying the strop should be stretched taut.

could anyone provide some insight?

P.S. form another thread I understood that thebigspendur has created a large document on stropping technique. where can I find that?

You should stretch it but not so you bend the hanging hook. Just enough to keep it flat. The strop does bow a bit, but not too much.

I agree with Ilija. I keep my strop about as tight as I can get it. It' impossible to get it completely flat, though, so there's a happy medium.

The videos you'll see kind of exaggerate the bowing, since they're shot from the side. My strop bows about 1/4 of an inch at most.

Josh

Without a doubt Taut. I keep mine as taut as possible when stropping.

I have a beefy eye-bolt lagged into a stud in my bathroom and what I do is find a good place to stand and then lean back to keep the strop taut. Mind you, it's not like I'm putting a lot of weight into it. Just enough to keep it nice and taut. It makes it easier on the arm holding the strop and lets me concentrate on the stropping motions.

I have an eye bolt screwed into the thick particle board that makes up the bathroom counter and fastened with a washer and a nut on the back end. It won't pull out or bend, so I pull fairly hard on my strop. My left arm muscles are just a bit tired afterward.

Josh

See?? Another benefit to using a straight razor. Not only is it a more sanitary form of shaving, and better for the skin (exfoliation), it's a form of exercise as well!

Originally Posted by joshearl

I have an eye bolt screwed into the thick particle board that makes up the bathroom counter and fastened with a washer and a nut on the back end. It won't pull out or bend, so I pull fairly hard on my strop. My left arm muscles are just a bit tired afterward.

Josh

Tension on a strop is relative to the weight you lay the razor on with. If you are suffering arm ache then you are possibly applying too much tension. Greater the hollow, lesser the weight and tension.

PuFF

Right now I'm finding it easier to keep my strop taut and the razor flat with the extra tension. As I'm getting better, though, I feel the tension easing up gradually.

I also seem to need more tension at the outset, when I'm using more pressure. Otherwise I don't feel much drag. Once I get to about 20 laps or so I can feel the drag even when I let up on the pressure a bit.

I have a lot to learn still in this stropping area. I'm grateful honedright brought it to my attention with his recent post.

Josh

First few strokes on a strop have less draw imo. Something happens to the leather after a few strokes that make the draw even. Possibly heat/friction brings the oils in the leather to the right temp to effect a better draw. Someone with techy no-how might explain this?

PuFF