Thread: Absolute beginner stropping question

Originally Posted by CaliforniaCajun

I have been concerned about the sound, thinking it should sound the same both ways. I'm wondering if I'm lifting the spine. It's hard for me to get the same sound going toward me as I do going away from me.

Related thread. I've been relaxing more when I strop and I have been really focusing on keeping the spine down and the difference in sound is much less than before. So the sound has proven to be a good feedback tool for me.

Originally Posted by EggSuckingLeech

Related thread. I've been relaxing more when I strop and I have been really focusing on keeping the spine down and the difference in sound is much less than before. So the sound has proven to be a good feedback tool for me.

Yeah, I'm to the point where I just need to relax and strop. Going a month without nicking or cutting it is a total turnaround, and I'm getting good shaves. So I think the stropping will continue to improve and any sound descrepancies will take care of themselves.

I'm still new at this so take it for what it's worth. I've noticed that hand rubbing my strop until it and my hand are getting pretty warm REALLY make difference in the feel and quality, I believe, of stropping. I too have noticed a different sound on the "to" stroke as opposed to the "away" stroke. However, I believe this is due to not stropping properly instead of a grain difference. When I have rubbed and heated my strop sufficiently it usually sounds the same on both strokes and has a lot more draw to it and just feels right. When I notice that different sound something just feels off. Somewhere I saw a thread that played a sound clip of a good stropping sound and a bad stropping sound. Guess which one was the bad. Yep, the one where it didn't sound the same on both strokes. Just my .02.