Thread: New people and 3" strops

Is it just me or is there a lot of people suggesting a new straight user to go with a 3" strop?

In my personal opinion a 3" strop is not the best for a beginner. A 2.5" would be better. I see people saying to get a 3" so you don't have to learn the x-stroke while stropping. IMHO it's completely the wrong line of thought. The x-stroke is very important to know. If you learn to strop with an x-stroke you learn a better technique, therefore you will have better results.

If you learn to just go straight up and back you may miss some of the blade. That also transitions into honing if you choose to learn.

To sum up, I personally think learning to strop on a 2.5" strop is the best way to learn. Then once you have experience try something new.

Of course this is just my opinion and a pet peace of mine.

Agree 100% for a hanger, X stroke or windshield wiper type Stroke should be learned,A hard Paddle is a diff story,Maybe.

Absolutely no reason you can't perform X-strokes on a 3" strop, IMO

Originally Posted by Siguy

Absolutely no reason you can't perform X-strokes on a 3" strop, IMO

Of Course you can,But newbs feel with a 3in, strop,all that is needed is an up and down stroke,thats wrong IMO

it s like so many other things you learn ,,, do it the right way step by step till your good enough to get creative , but if you stick with the basics the first time you wont have to break your bad habits later on I started on a 2" strop , had to do the x stroke ,, now I just naturally do it no matter what strop I use 3" or 2" tc

X marks the spot. X a question and get an answer. Xed it out. X my heart and hope to... X is an essential part of living. Mark your ballot with an X in the right place. Acquire many X's via bad marriages. Forgotten how to write, X your signature. I'd swear that an X movement is more natural to the human frame than back and forth or up and down or side to side. Extol the value of X in any mathematical formula. Cross eyed is an X look. So, newbie's learn the X stroke in stropping and you will reap X amount of rewards for it.

Check this box. LOL.

I learned X strokes, windshield washer strokes, etc. on the hones. Whenever I go to the 3", I do it on them without thinking.

I think the idea behind recommending a newbie get a 3" is to take some of the initial difficulty out of the start up process. It certainly helped me... and others, or so I've heard

Originally Posted by Siguy

I learned X strokes, windshield washer strokes, etc. on the hones. Whenever I go to the 3", I do it on them without thinking.

I think the idea behind recommending a newbie get a 3" is to take some of the initial difficulty out of the start up process. It certainly helped me... and others, or so I've heard

And -- as many have written, and many have learned -- using a 3"-wide bench strop (aka "paddle strop") takes much-if-not-all the worry about "turning" a blade's edge out of the equation. As for me, I'm big on those "windshield wiper" strokes... "Windshield wipers slappin' time..."

I learned about X's long before all you guys did,,,,,,,,,,,

Since 1st grade, all my work sheets were full of X's,,,,small ones, great big ones that covered the whole paper, lots of red ones,,,, I've experienced all kinds of X strokes,,,, X's ain't nothing new.