Thread: stropping beginner

hi just found this site and would like some help. After honing i seem to have a really good sharp edge on a 8000 stone but when i strop on canvas and then the leather it seems blunter than when i started . i'm holding blade flat on strop not too much pressure and flipping correct way, strop pulled taught ...what am i doing wrong ....thanks Nick

Sounds to me as if you might have overhoned your blade and created a foil edge that broke off during stropping. Or you could have rolled the edge while stropping.

I suggest you take a look at the honing & stropping sections in the SRP Library.

You have several SRP mentors in the UK to whom you could send your blade for a professional honing. That would allow you to find out what a well honed blade feels like and they could tell you what appears to have happened with your own honing.

Follow Dzec words. You also may want to try layi g the Strop on a flat surface when you Strop. That way there is no flex in the Strop.

Stropping took me some time to master. And even now I don’t know if “master” is the right term. Fast, slow? Hard, soft. Tight, loose. It sounds like you are doing everything right to me, but clearly you aren’t getting the desired results.

So why not start by eliminating variables. Throw your strop onto a table. That’ll guarantee the flat for you. Then practice going slow and light. See how that works for you. Change only one thing at a time until you have it figured, then hang the strop back up and figure that part out last. Treat it like a scientist would.

Ultimately, fast and super light on a semi-taught strop works for me.

Hang in there.

What razor are you using?
What sharpness tests are you using?
The advice above is likely.

To make things simple, I would not strop on the canvas side for now. That can be used later, on occasion, to bring back some "zip" to the edge.

Lots of variables here and lots of good advice already given, although I don't see the benefit of stropping on a board apart from maybe minimizing the risk of cutting the strop. I had trouble with stropping and mysterious nicks until I changed the grip of the shank from top to bottom with a pencil roll flip to more from side to side with a slight turn of the wrist during the flip.

Sham's video linked below is similar to what I do, although I start from the top, rather than the bottom, and hold both stropping elements together.

Some one on one honing would be the best thing for you. Sitting down with someone that can watch and show whats happening. I find stropping makes an edge better for sure. The above ideas are great info so give them a try.
Wondering what blade your trying to hone. Some are what we call razor shaped objects (rso) and if your dealing with one of those, you will jever get there as even a pro honer has a hard time with them. Then the edge will fall apart on you like you are talking about.

Guessing you havent been honing long. Its not as easy as it looks and can take months of practice before it comes together. Good luck and let us know the razor your trying to hone.

When you use a hanging strop, the flexing of the cloth or leather causes a slight rounding of the apex. That makes the edge less keen, but more smooth. Some people allow the strop to flex a lot; that accentuates the effect. If you place the strop on a flat surface, you effectively create a bench strop. That minimizes the loss of keenness.

Although many people claim they can shave off a 8K edge, if you have a tough beard, you may want to go to an even higher grit level for your finishing hone. This can be accomplished using either a synthetic hone or natural finishing hone.

Hi all thanks for the advice I'm trying to sharpen a Gotta hollow ground superfine 120 razor

Nice razor! Far from a RSO.