Thread: Stropping speed question

I received my first straight razor last week along with my first strop. My razor was just returned to me from Max Sprecher, so it should be shave-ready sharp. My question is about stropping speed. I have seen numerous videos on stropping and I think I have the general idea: no weight on the razor, strop with the edge trailing, roll it over on the spine. But how fast do I need to strop? In some of the videos I have seen the person will go very slow in order to show technique. Does that still work or do you need to develop some speed before effective stropping is attained?
Thanks for any info.

Go at the rate you feel most comfortable with. It is most important that when you start you develop the correct technique - speed is secondary and will increase with practice and time.

Generally, after that most people's natural speed is fast enough for effective stropping. The "fists of fury" stropping you see sometimes in videos (and I'm as guilty of it as anyone else) has a lot to do with showing off and little to do with efficacy. But hey, a hard-earned skill deserves to be shown off sometimes so we all cut each other some slack!

But yes, please don't worry about speed at this stage. Concentrate on keeping the razor flat for the entire stroke, developing the flip correctly and with confidence, and keeping the spine constantly in contact with the strop. Once those things come together you can worry about speed.

Good luck.

James.

What he said. Each time I tried kicking in the turbo it cost me a new piece of leather. Smooth, steady and a light touch wins the race, not speed. Speed is an incidental by-product of many, many months, maybe years, years of experience. IMO.

Idea... If you have an old dull str8 (really dull) practice with it 1st. If not, 'butter knife'. Yes,use a butter knife to practice with.
Just remember to 'always' keep the spine on the strop. It doesn't ever get lifted off.

Precision before speed. If you try to go too fast in the beginning you will just damage your equipment. Low speed doesn't, in my belief, make the stropping useless. Speed isn't necessary to get results.

Just think quality over quantity.

I have understand that speed is important thing about stropping. And to get most out of stropping you need speed to align the edge. Speed increases friction and heat on blade. I always warm up my strop with scrubbing it with my palm.

Here comes the BUT. When you start your stropping skills don't match to speed that is needed. So most important thing as others already has said is to learn how to strop properly. Don't worry about speed, learn to do it right from beginning. It needs practice before muscle memory learn how to strop properly and you can increase stropping speed.

Originally Posted by Jaatinen1982

scrubbing it with my balm.

Excellent post! Palm, I'm guessing.

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

Excellent post! Palm, I'm guessing.

Thanks for correcting me!

Originally Posted by Jaatinen1982

I have understand that speed is important thing about stropping. And to get most out of stropping you need speed to align the edge. Speed increases friction and heat on blade. I always warm up my strop with scrubbing it with my palm.

Here comes the BUT. When you start your stropping skills don't match to speed that is needed. So most important thing as others already has said is to learn how to strop properly. Don't worry about speed, learn to do it right from beginning. It needs practice before muscle memory learn how to strop properly and you can increase stropping speed.

Very well said, I can only add use deliberate, methodical strokes and actions while learning. Even now, sometimes I start out with a couple deliberate strokes to get myself going then it is off to the races. But, like the folks here advising to start slowly, I've been doing this a while. That mussel memory thing is real and yes, it is palm rubbing to warm and condition your strop before use.

Good luck.

Chasmo