Thread: Advice for first attempt at stropping

Hi all,

I've had a look through the library on here, watched a load of stropping videos and will perform my first strop in the next few days before embarking on shave number 3. I've even had a practice the the butter knife and my belt and it doesn't seem that difficult in theory.

I'm still worried as a lot of people feel that as sure as you're born, you'll blunt your first razor learning to strop. I really want to avoid doing this so am looking for advice from people as to how their first strops went and what other pitfalls to avoid. Can a first strop truly be a guaranteed failure?

Cheers for any advice.

G

Although I am not an expert I have been straight shaving for a few months and have yet to dull any of my razors on my strop. I, like you, have read how it is inevitable to do this. I took that as a challange. Just take your time, slow precise movement and you will be fine. I also read how one should only start with shaving your cheeks until you get the hang of it then move on in small sections of your face. The rebel in me decided to start off doing my whole face. I believe I am doing fine with minimal blood lose. It is all up to what you want to do and what you are comfortable with. Have fun...

Thanks, that's reassuring. Hopefully my technique will get off to a good enough start that muscle memory takes care of the rest. It is wierd though how most strops are narrower than the typical blade. Surely that'ts a massive design flaw.

You should use an "x" pattern when stropping to contact the whole blade. I am sure there are others out there that can explaine how this benefits the edge instead of just going straight back and forth on the strop.

Is an X pattern on a narrow strop better than straight on a wider strop? The strop I've got is 1.75 inch which I think is about average based on what's available at the mo.

I find that the new folks that are really heavy handed are the ones most likely to dull out an edge when stropping or even break plastic handles on razors by pushing down hard on the scales vs. holding the razor by the shank or tang. Try not to over think the stropping and use light pressure with a nice rhythm and enjoy.

Have fun.

And to try abd answer the question to the x patern I always try to use tge rolling x pattern for the simple fact of not all strops are 3” wide and that is the best way to get contact on all of your blade. And if there are any dips in your strop you dont want that 1 spot in your blade not to reap the benifeits of the strop. Although you should be carefull when flipping blade not to cut strop. I've never done this myself knock on wood but I've herd stories.

Originally Posted by Sanders83

Can a first strop truly be a guaranteed failure?

Cheers for any advice.

G

No, but I will tell you what is guaranteed: Nicking your strop!! I swore up & down I wouldn't but guess what...I did!!

Originally Posted by jpcwon

No, but I will tell you what is guaranteed: Nicking your strop!! I swore up & down I wouldn't but guess what...I did!!

Even flipping the razor on it's spine? I've seen a lot of videos where the guy just uses the weight of the blade and nothing else so I think that's what I'll do. And hold it by the tang too, holding by the handle sounds silly and doesn't surprise me that some handles break that way. Plus the hinge could move etc.

Fear is your enemy. Having said that, I recommend looking for a good synthetic finishing hone. Then as CH says, have fun.