Thread: Absolute beginner stropping question

So my Norton 1k and 4/8k have finally arrived
The bevel is set and the razor honed.

Here's my question :
When stropping should the razor be flat on the leather just like it is when honing
or should I lift the back of the razor slightly ? By doing the latter I get nicer sound
off the leather that makes me think the strop is doing more. I'm probably entirely
wrong right ?

Thank for any advice

No, the spine stays flat at all times during the stroke, lifting can round the edge, or worse dig into your strop and slice or scuff it. Also, the spine leads the stroke (opposite of honing). Don't worry about getting a very noticeable acoustic type feedback; some razors do, and some won't make a peep. Just keep the strop taught, spine flat, and constant contact with a smooth even stroke, and let the strop do its work.

+1 see the Library on this forum. Under maintenance you will see stropping under maintenance. This will give you a better idea with visuals of what the above is mentioning. You can also youtube some of these big names on the forum. They have posts showing you the ins and outs of stropping. Remember it takes time do develop a skill like stropping.

Remember the JaNorton thread we linked you


That was January, and Honing this was October and Stropping or rather Stroptober


http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...st-2012-a.html



There is a ton of info and Vids in that thread

Great into
Much obliged!

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Remember the JaNorton thread we linked you


That was January, and Honing this was October and Stropping or rather Stroptober


http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...st-2012-a.html



There is a ton of info and Vids in that thread

+1 on Stroptober thread. Watch the videos at a minimum. Seeing so many different angles, members of various experience levels, and the comments. Fixed my stropping just going through that thread. Great info!

Originally Posted by tiddle

No, the spine stays flat at all times during the stroke, lifting can round the edge, or worse dig into your strop and slice or scuff it. Also, the spine leads the stroke (opposite of honing). Don't worry about getting a very noticeable acoustic type feedback; some razors do, and some won't make a peep. Just keep the strop taught, spine flat, and constant contact with a smooth even stroke, and let the strop do its work.

Your post is causing me to re-think stropping. I've gone about three whole weeks without nicking the thing which for me is an unbelievable accomplishment.

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.

Originally Posted by CaliforniaCajun

It's hard for me to get the same sound going toward me as I do going away from me.

Let me preface this with something you don't often hear on the internet: I'm not an expert in anything I'm about to talk about.

Having said that, it makes sense to me that leather - being a tanned hide - is going to have a "grain" to it, just like our faces do. I have a SRD red latigo and the sound is definitely different on the toward vs away stroke. Now, I've only been stropping correctly (I think) now for about 3 days, so it's certainly not a "broken in" strop (unless you call being sliced 30 times "broken in" )

This is a complex question, riddled by the thousands of different strops. Generally, the razor should remain flat. Any desire for smoothness via rounding should be done carefully, by only allowing some slight deflection. Raising the spine can help sometimes but it's hard to do it well enough in both directions.

Sound can be different in each direction, as well as draw. The key is knowing how your strop treats razors. Though the sound being "nice" is unclear to me, what I look for is a indication that each side of the bevel is getting stropped. That can be sound or tactile.

Finally, I hate to say it, but whether stropping is genuinely good or not must be driven by a measured test. Tests like the thumb pad test, the shaving test, and (yes, I'm going to say it) the HHT are decent measures of stropping. These should only be done, before and after, and the post action compared only to the pre-action. We must never evaluate a razor without a recent comparative sample. These tests only tell us when the blade is better than before. Even then it takes experience to determine improvement.

Originally Posted by griff199

Having said that, it makes sense to me that leather - being a tanned hide - is going to have a "grain" to it, just like our faces do. and the sound is definitely different on the toward vs away stroke.

Yep what he said,,

And let's toss in the Dopler Effect for good measure too

"That is my story and I'm sticking to it"



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