Posted without comment:
"Am I really going to cut up my first strop?"
- Thread starter rhgg2
- Start date
Yes. Yes you are.
I won't tell you why I find this humorous!
Suffice to say: it's the same reason I cut my face the first time I use a new razor...
Suffice to say: it's the same reason I cut my face the first time I use a new razor...
How about you are a guy who has been making strops for 19 years 
, you get a new type of leather 
, make a prototype for photos and before taking the pic you test the strop and take a big slice out of it 
. Then you get to make a new prototype all over again 
.
, you get a new type of leather , make a prototype for photos and before taking the pic you test the strop and take a big slice out of it . Then you get to make a new prototype all over again .My first strop escaped unscathed. I made my own roo skin strop and used it for over a year with no issues then one morning in a state of tiredness and a lapse in concentration I nicked it. I now see that nick every morning as a reminder 
I was very careful with my first strip. I went days without an issue, until I didn’t. Oh well.
You folks are freaking me out lol.
Or your bride walks behind you and you move a scooch to let her by, or she asks you a question and you answer.
It is funny, stropping requires all your concentration.
The trick is to stop… then flip and softly land the edge after the strop is moving in the opposite direction. The spine never leaves the strop.
Hold the razor with thumb and fore finger on the corners of the tang and control flip with the thumb, like flipping a switch.
It is funny, stropping requires all your concentration.
The trick is to stop… then flip and softly land the edge after the strop is moving in the opposite direction. The spine never leaves the strop.
Hold the razor with thumb and fore finger on the corners of the tang and control flip with the thumb, like flipping a switch.
The last time I nicked a strop was right after my bride call out from the next room, “Obama, says he has the economy under control!”
You have done well for a long time then my friend!
Interesting. I hold mine with the thumb and forefinger on the shank, not the tang and as far as I can tell, I'm flipping it over at each end before it stops. Ive been doing this for about two months, and so far, no nicks. I can't help but wonder how much longer before I do.
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
I’ll post just for a completely different experience. I’ve never cut a strop with razors, at all, even when learning. The exception is stropping kitchen knives, and I regularly scratch or nick a strop, so I just use paddle strops with replaceable leather.
The reason is that I don’t strop like everyone else does. My muscle memory was from stropping kitchen knives, with which you lift the blade and flip edge down, you can’t strop a kitchen knife by rolling it over on the spine. So that’s what I did when I began with razors, probably 14 years ago now. And someone else does this too, maybe Glen M?
There are some advantages, you don’t wear gold off the spine, and if the spine has decorated/carved/rough metal, you don’t scratch the strop. I’ve been told several times that I should just learn the classic razor technique, but what I’m doing works well for me so I see no point. Alex Gilmore watched me strop and questioned if I was rolling the edge, but the answer was no, and he shaved with the edge that I honed and stropped and liked it. If Alex likes your edge, that’s good enough for me.
Knock on wood.
The reason is that I don’t strop like everyone else does. My muscle memory was from stropping kitchen knives, with which you lift the blade and flip edge down, you can’t strop a kitchen knife by rolling it over on the spine. So that’s what I did when I began with razors, probably 14 years ago now. And someone else does this too, maybe Glen M?
There are some advantages, you don’t wear gold off the spine, and if the spine has decorated/carved/rough metal, you don’t scratch the strop. I’ve been told several times that I should just learn the classic razor technique, but what I’m doing works well for me so I see no point. Alex Gilmore watched me strop and questioned if I was rolling the edge, but the answer was no, and he shaved with the edge that I honed and stropped and liked it. If Alex likes your edge, that’s good enough for me.
Knock on wood.
Unless you are able to walk on water and turn water into wine it is inevitable that when you put a piece of steel with a razor edge on a piece of soft leather you are likely at some point to take a nick or a slice out of the leather. No big deal. As long as the nicks and slices don't interfere with the stropping accept them as battle scars.
100% agreement. The purpose of a strop is to keep your blades in good condition. The purpose of your blades is not to keep your strops in good condition. Take care of them, of course, but remember why you're doing things.
Well said. The blades are meant to last a hundred years or more. Strops have a shorter life span.
And your second and third and ...
Exactly what my first strop looked like.
- Thread starter
- #19
Fortunately it has staged a strong comeback!
It's a bit ghostly pale after its near death experience but it strops real nice. Better than ever in fact - I sanded it much flatter than it was to start with. I could oil it to bring the colour back but I like the draw as it is!
It's a bit ghostly pale after its near death experience but it strops real nice. Better than ever in fact - I sanded it much flatter than it was to start with. I could oil it to bring the colour back but I like the draw as it is!
Yeah, oiling them is a tricky affair. You can screw up the draw for a long time if you over do it. I don't condition the leather unless there's no doubt it needs it.
