Just wondering what height people prefer their strop at. Mine is attached waist high and i hold the other end about level with the floor and stand about 45 degrees to it.
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Just wondering what height people prefer their strop at. Mine is attached waist high and i hold the other end about level with the floor and stand about 45 degrees to it.
I would say that my strops hang about 4" above my waist, and the handle is approximately waist height. I did it this way, because as my arm extends from my body, it elevates. I thought it would be a natural feeling, and it works great for me.
The vertex of my body and strop is around the belt buckle, which puts me at about a 30 degree angle, with my front foot slightly forward.
I'm not overly calculating....I had to think about it to explain it. :)
I think I read in the Barbers Manual that it is recomended being just below the shirt/breast pocket. Mine are probably midway between waiste and breast pocket.
thinking about it mine are probably close to same height as Maxi's. I am just a shorter. kinda funny considering he was the one to teach me how to strop
I have been experimenting with standing more toward the middle of the strop and facing it, stropping left to right instead of closer to further. The thought was this keeps the entire stroke somewhat symmetric from start to finish, hoping not to emphasize either extreme of the stroke.
I have mine attached to my door knob, which is a little above my waist.
IMHO it doesn't much matter if the strop slopes slightly up or down while stropping, just that it slopes slightly...
I think it is much easier to use less pressure if the strop is at a slight angle, and no I can't prove it but I can feel it :)
And it's great that you share that. I actually leave mine on the belt rack and put it in different places, but I'm going to look forward to trying the end up higher than typical, for me.
Mine hangs on the towel rack which is right about the top of my hip bone and I hold it petty much parallel to the ground
Mine is whatever height my door knob is.
I use a paddle strop. I haven't found a way to hang it, so I just let it sit on my desk.
I have been experimenting the past day or so and notice it significantly better to have a slight upward angle from waist height to say 6 inches up where the strop is attached. All the sudden my stropping has improved tremendously. the katayama strop I bought through the classifieds here has also made a tremendous difference in not only my appreciation for stropping but the quality of my shave. Does anyone have any suggestions for cleaning the linen of the katayama as mine has about a 2" oil stain through it which I don't even know where it came from and some light chrome oxide stains on it from when I used to use that with another strop (apparently contageous stuff). I have found the new strop linen seems to do a great job without any paste and that stuff is a mess.
oh and I know they dont recommend anything for prepping the strop except your hands sweat but i would like to do a light cleaning and conditioning of the leather as some bits are discolored if anyone has any suggestions.
I'm a doorknob strop guy. I used to watch barbers strop and they had them attached to a hook built into their barber chairs more often than not. This left them roughly waist high too so that is where I began and remain. My strop slopes slightly downward due to where my doorknob is relative to my height. I think, from reading about guys who have them on towel racks and what have you , that there is no "right" height. Only what we get used to.
The oil on your linen may be neatsfoot from someone treating their strop ? Once the leather has stains I don't know an effective way of getting it out. Perhaps a treatment of neatsfoot would equalize it with the rest of the strop but that might change the draw. If you like the feel of the strop as is I would leave well enough alone. I've cleaned linen in a bucket with cool water and woolite. Let it air dry on a flat surface.
I'm trying to figure this out too. I used a padded quick clamp to attach the strop to the door jamb. This allowed me to change the height easily. I started elbow high, moved it to the height that let me put good tension on the strop, then I varied it up and down in small increments. For me the best attachment place is about 3-4 inches below where I hold the strop. This is about 6 inches below my elbow height.
I was planning to start playing with the height too and will check this.Quote:
Originally Posted by RustyBlades
Tied to a Towel rail, slightly above waist height.
Same. I think I have to rename it Stropping rail though. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by easyace
Guess im an odd one, I have mine at about nose height (im 6'3" if that helps with the visual). dunno why this height feels the most natural to me.
This was one of the first newbie questions I asked Obie. Partially based on his advice I hung mine at about navel level and strop with the free end downhill slightly. To be honest, part of the reason I hung it at that height was based on the height of our baseboards. I tend towards OCD and wanted the entire strop to be "framed" by the strop board I made. I did not want the strop hanging partially over the baseboard, nor did I want the bottom of the strop board looking like it was sitting on the baseboard. http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...-my-strop.html Lucky for me, I'm relatively tall:)
Last time I was in Missouri I noticed that Lynn has his stops hanging from just below the counter top (standard height) in his shave den. When he strops, he holds the strop uphill towards him. This lends credence to Glenn's statement above. I guess there's more than one way to skin a cat (or is that a cow, kangaroo, or horse).
I keep most of mine at about shoulder height.
That's where I felt I had room for a hook in the wall so that is where it went.
As I bought a few more strops, I had to find one more location, and that happened to be at door-knob level.
Nowadays, I strop on whatever strop I feel like, and I use it where it hangs.
So I guess what I'm saying is that it really doesn't matter anymore.
Anything between 2 1/2 feet to about 6 is alright by me:)
My bathroom already had a hook mounted a few inches above my waist height, perfect fit for my strops :)
Naval height at the fixed end, just below chest height at the holding end...