Thread: To Strop or not to Strop..that is the question

Originally Posted by JeffR

Thanks for the link to the razor manufacturer instructions, onimaru55. In reference to a discussion we had some time ago, I observe that the Bengall instructions again recommend that the razor be kept "quite flat" during stropping. Reading it and further experimenting prompts me to return to my original interpretation, that "quite flat" does not necessarily mean "completely flat." A slightly raised spine (by "slightly" I mean somewhere between zero and maybe five degrees) or a slightly slack strop can work wonders in making a razor's edge smooth and keen (sharp).

You have to remember "quite" is also a synonym for "completely" & is a quaint expression that was more common in those days.

I still think that anything other than having the razor completely flat on the strop is quite out of the question unless you are manipulating an edge in ways other than simple maintenance stropping.


A slightly slack strop can still equate to full contact of spine & edge. No argument there.