Thread: Stropping Speed

I think I hold mine the same way, James, out and back. But I don't flip it until I've come to a dead stop and in fact begun the return, for fear of A) nicking the strop by bringing the sharp edge over too quickly, and B) running that nice edge into the strop's handle or anchor. Those fears are both based in experience

What is going on / how can I stop a pop or slap sound when I flip my razor. Ot geels like ot just flips the last little bit because of the flat sides of the shank.

I'm just gonna say 'as slow as you need to go to maintain good form' and leave it at that...

Carl

Originally Posted by Swerve

What is going on / how can I stop a pop or slap sound when I flip my razor. Ot geels like ot just flips the last little bit because of the flat sides of the shank.

I get that too sometimes, in order to stop it, you need to be moving your razor when your razor edge begins to touch the leather but sometimes it happens, I don't think it harms anything. Its cool to slap leather

I get the slapping sound because of how vigorously I flip the razor. I have concerned myself with it, but my results seem to speak for themself, so I no longer worry.

For what it is worth, some guys REALLY hammer the blade into the strop...I would have said that this is a really bad thing to do if I were to simply guess....but I might be wrong considering the level of experience this fellow has

I would not suggest that anyone try and emulate this...my POINT is that there are a lot of ways to get to the destination...find the best for you and do not worry about the rest unless you just want to experiment.

Skip to 2:20 and watch him let 'er rip! He seems to do it the same way in all his videos (I would NOT necessarily recommend this...it just shows that many people can potentially achieve great results with very different methods)



I wonder what grit his palm is I think mine is a bit higher, but I move a bit slower when I do it! That said, stropping on my palm seemed to have surprisingly good results for me FWIW

Okay. While we're at it, I'm developing slight marks on the upper left hand side of the strop from the toe of the blade. This makes me think I'm applying too much pressure to the blade, so I've endeavored to try to remember to keep my elbow(right) parallel with the strop, or slightly lower, to reduce this pressure. Am I off base, or does this ring true for anyone else? I never noticed this with my cowhide strop, but now with the roo it's come to my attention.

Can you describe the marks? Are they tiny nicks or just increased wear? If it is just extra wear on the upper left, I would guess your angle is biased on the flip (I am the opposite, I contact the lower right first, but then level out as I start my stroke).

It may or may not be a bad thing...it could just be your thing? But if you want to correct it, I think your suggested approach might be solid. Another would be to simply stop at the distal flip, place the razor carefully on the strop, and then start up again. After a few days of doing that, see if you notice a difference (use video, you would be surprised what you see from a lower angle!)

Another (possibly instant) cure might be to mount the strop a bit higher. Where is the fixture point relative to your elbow height?

Mine is mounted to my bedroom door knob with a velcro strap used to keep my monster bass (guitar) cables neat, I ran it through the hook, around the knob and tightened down. It is actually sturdy, I pulled pretty tight to make sure it wouldn't come loose during stropping It's mounted in line with my belly button so on the down stroke I let gravity and the razors weight do most of the work. I pull it up just a bit, pull taught leaving just a very little amount of lax, then lay the blade down and tilt the strop inward and let the razor and strop meet. Borrowed that from Lynn's dvd when he was demonstrating barber's hones (Thanks Lynn). I was having trouble keeping the spine flat until I did that...now it's smooth stropping I start slowly about 1 1/2 second stroke for two or three, once I got my rhythm I speed up to a constant fluid motion...can't go warp speed like some of the guys!

Originally Posted by Costabro

Okay. While we're at it, I'm developing slight marks on the upper left hand side of the strop from the toe of the blade. This makes me think I'm applying too much pressure to the blade, so I've endeavored to try to remember to keep my elbow(right) parallel with the strop, or slightly lower, to reduce this pressure. Am I off base, or does this ring true for anyone else? I never noticed this with my cowhide strop, but now with the roo it's come to my attention.

Are they little feathery nicks?

If so, then all you need to do is ensure that you are starting to move the razor away from the edge before you complete your flip. Unless you are doing that, the edge WILL cut slightly into your leather, and leave marks where you are ending your stroke.

Michael

Originally Posted by Costabro

Okay. While we're at it, I'm developing slight marks on the upper left hand side of the strop from the toe of the blade. This makes me think I'm applying too much pressure to the blade, so I've endeavored to try to remember to keep my elbow(right) parallel with the strop, or slightly lower, to reduce this pressure. Am I off base, or does this ring true for anyone else? I never noticed this with my cowhide strop, but now with the roo it's come to my attention.

It's likely you are still moving the razor a little bit when you flop the blade over. Its real easy to do so just stop flop and roll