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I'm looking at some instruction videos on stropping the razor but I little unclear on how the razor sits on the strop. Looking at the videos at first glace it seems they have the razor at a slight angle where only the edge is touching the strop. However if a look a little closer it seems they have the edge and the spine in contact with the strop at the same time, is this right? Also should the strop and the spine be in contact when ascending and descending? Please help if you can, thanks.
When I strop, the spine is always in contact with the strop. There is never a time when the edge alone is in contact with the strop.
Exactly what Ace said.
Spine I'd always in contact with the strop. When you see it in a video there looks like a belly in the strop but the blade and edge are maintained straight across it. There seems to be a belly because the strop can only be pulled so tight. Don't rip it out of the wall but hold it firmly, when you add anything to it there has to be a bit of a belly, but just use enough pressure to run it across the strop.
What Ace said - it's only common sense - why would you raise the spine? The razor is hone with the spine and bevel on the hone, so it is stropped in that way (but the cutting edge trails in stropping, instead of leading when honing). The strop needs to be pulled taut and kept at that degree of tatness throughout stropping. Both spine and bevel (cutting edge) should be on the strop, in both directions. Don't press down on the razor - a very light pressure is enough, but it must be even throughout the up and down stroke.. Don't treat the strop as a muscle developer - like Aespo said, you don't want to rip it out of the wall, just a firm hold.
Regards,
Neil