Thread: How easy is it to dull razor with strop?

Dear Fellow Razorheads-Received a really nice Fromm in the mail from a forum member and it shaved really sweet the first time around. Let her sit for 48 hours and performed 25 complete strokes on the felt and 50 complete strokes on the leather side of my Big Daddy 3" wide Strop off of E-Bay. Shave with her today and although she still shaves arm hair, she feels like she's dragging more than before. Could I have dulled the edge somehow? I understand that the strop must be pulled tight and that the razor be dragged on the strop with MUCH less pressure compared to the strop tension. How do you know that you are applying the correct tension to the strop and the correct pressure to the razor? I did inspect the razor edge with a magnifying glass and could find nothing obviously aberrant Thanx for any feeback!-Gearhead

Incorrect stropping is probably the leading cause of edge damage with straight razors, particularly among newer users. It is a tricky exercise that can take years to learn properly and even more years to master.

Strop tension should be such that it is not flopping around, but neither are you pulling the hook from the wall. There is leeway in there - some people have a very taut strop, others allow it to flex a bit, other still vary the tension depending on what they are trying to achieve. Bottom line, it should be taut enough that there is a stable surface to strop on.

Razor pressure should be light, and enough so that the edge and spine maintain contact with the leather. If you apply pressure deliberately, concentrate it on the spine not the edge. If the spine lifts off the strop while the edge maintains contact, you will ruin the edge. It is better to miss the strop with the edge on a stroke than it is to lift the spine on a stroke.

Good luck.

James.

Wow, I had no idea! I will have to hone more slowly then!Can you see the damage with a magnifying glass? In essence, are you just dragging the edge across the leather? Still, one must break eggs to make an omelete, no? I do have to learn somehowThank you again for the feedback-Gearhead222

It is possible to degrade the edge on a strop without it being visibly noticeable. Your face will always tell you how your stropping is going.

How about the forearm hair shave test?

For a new shaver the only test that is really going to give you a good idea if the edge has issues is the shave test. My suggestion is try stropping it more. Just be slow and methodical. At this point in your stropping life you probably are at best getting a real good strop lap 1 in every 6 laps so the edge will seem degraded some no need to worry. Just keep at it with slow methodical strokes. Speed will come later as you gain muscle memory.

Originally Posted by gearhead222

Wow, I had no idea! I will have to hone more slowly then!Can you see the damage with a magnifying glass? In essence, are you just dragging the edge across the leather? Still, one must break eggs to make an omelete, no? I do have to learn somehowThank you again for the feedback-Gearhead222

Try laying the strop on a flat surface like the kitchen counter and strop that way. It will ensure that your strop is perfectly flat and you will not have to apply tension. This works well when learning to strop. I did a lot of practice with a butter knife when I first started.
Did you mean hone or strop? Because you can screw your blade by honing it too, which may be the case if you did.

Thank you both. I wish that damage due to poor stropping would have been emphasized more in the 4 videos I watched, but they were not! I now see that slow and steady wins the race when it comes to learning to strope correctly. Honing is WAY down the line for me. Although I am doing my homework concerning hones, I do not plan on honing anytime soon!-Gearhead

Dear CCase-Almost forgot, but when you strop on a flat surface, do you anchor the strop on both sides? Trying to understand how you would strop in both directions without pulling or pushing on the strop. Thanx again for any assistance-Gearhead

The idea with laying the strop flat on a surface is to take out the variable of having to hold the strop similar to a paddle strop. You really shouldn't need to weigh it down at all that is how light a pressure you should be using with the razor.

It's not a bad idea and is recommended by some very respected members. My feelings are that if your going to strop like that you really should have a paddle strop.