Thread: Why do so many newbies cut or nick their strop?

Originally Posted by mapleleafalumnus

Friends don't let friends strop drunk.

Google MADS. mothers against drunk stroppers.please join.

This is why I use a paddle strop,got the moduler one from Lynn.No worrys about tention,just lay it on my thigh and strop.If the leather gets messed up its cheap to get a new piece.No cuts or nicks yet,but some bubble shaped spots have come off the leather and I don't know why?

I told you not to buy bubble leather. Contact the vendor to find out what the problem is....

Jerry

most newbies try to go to fast. as long as you fully pay attention to what you are doing and start slow then you will most likly not have accident like a big cut. or at least thats how it has been for me.

Originally Posted by Deerhunter1995

most newbies try to go to fast. as long as you fully pay attention to what you are doing and start slow then you will most likly not have accident like a big cut. or at least thats how it has been for me.

Very true,reminds me, WHAT HAPPEND TO THE CHICKEN PICS?

The same reason why every person who regularly plays with razor blades will eventually cut themselves.

Originally Posted by Jimbo

Yes, it is most unlikely that you will nick your strop going slowly and carefully. But to grow as a stropper you need to push yourself little by little over time. At least, that is my opinion. You cannot stay slow forever - there is some switch in the male brain that flicks on at some point that makes you go for the "fists of fury" moment. It is the same switch that is linked to the one in your wife's head that makes her say "I told you so"!!

James.

Really wish there was a "love" button for this. LOL

Got to love the logic from Jimbo here

I had my share of cut strop issues for a while.
Totalled 1 strop and nearly a second before I started to learn
Changed from hanging strop to Paddle strop and concentrated on technique
Watched AF Davis stropping video many times, his technique is very smooth
Then try to follow exactly what he is doing
Slowly but surely the technique improved
After several weeks went to Hanging Strop again
Still have to concentrate to keep the blade flat on the strop
The journey continues
Hope this helps

I have been stropping knives for years, but I quickly learned that stropping razors is not as easy as it appears. Definitely a skill requiring development in order to achieve a good shave-ready edge.

For me, the problem of nicks has not been related to accidentally stropping my razor edge forward rather than edge trailing as one might at first intuitively believe, but from failing to begin the reverse stropping direction motion slightly before the razor flip touches down the trailing edge on the strop. A razor in hand laying on a strop is never actually totally free of motion. Even the slightest twitch motion in the edge forward direction will micro cut a strop.

Laying the razor edge on the strop while the razor is not in motion (forward stroke-stop stroke-flip razor-edge contact made-start reverse stroke) can easily micro nick strops, usually on the strop edge next to the hand holding the razor, at the location where the stropping strokes change their direction. Timing the flip to lay down the razor's edge only after the reverse stroke has started is not so easy for everyone and may require some dexterity development.

I have also learned to pay close attention to cleaning the surface of the strop and wiping the razor before stropping, the sound of the stropping, and the feel of the razor while stropping.

Hi, I'm mapleleafalumnus and I'm a stropping addict. My first stropping was in 1996.