Thread: Stropping::: Very very very Important !!!!

Great post, there can never be too many reminders of the importance of proper stropping. I can say from experience that I have changed my stropping style probably 3-4 times since first starting out. The more you do it, the more you realize you are doing something wrong, or applying too much pressure, etc. Practice, practice, practice!

Originally Posted by mparker762

... if you master proper stropping you just won't need to hone very often unless you're into restoring old straight razors from ebay. So I guess I would say that honing is an important skill for restoration work, but not so much for shaving.

Yes, yes, and hell yes. I have to agree. It took me quite a while to learn this lesson, but it's something all the newbies should be told.

I have a short, narrow strop and I found it pretty easy to learn on. I read some where that wider strops are more difficult to learn on because it's so easy to lift the spine and the strop won't twist like it does on the narrow one.

That being said, I believe my stropping is good - I have not had to take a shave ready razor back to the hones - but I have never seen stropping and thought it was really poor either. Basically I have very little to compare it to, in terms of technique.

This is a great post! I had a lot of problems with my straight razor shaves when I first started about 8 months ago. I realized through experience that I was stropping with the incorrect amount of draw on the razor, even though the spine was flat the whole time and the turning was always correct. If you don't feel any draw on the blade when you're stropping, but the motions are correct, you're still going to get bad shaves.

Originally Posted by Disburden

If you don't feel any draw on the blade when you're stropping, but the motions are correct, you're still going to get bad shaves.

If the motions are correct, what do you change to start feeling draw?

Certainly two things that affect draw are the strop material and its conditioning. Canvas has more draw than linen has more draw than soft denim, in general terms. For leather, a surface that has become too hard and smooth can be scrubbed with pumice stone. A rubdown with neatsfoot oil will increase the draw on a leather strop that isn't too heavily burnished. Pasting the strop (cotton or leather) with chrome oxide is an extreme case of increasing draw.

Originally Posted by honedright

I agree. Stropping is.............important

Important? "Important" be blowed!

Stropping is KING!!

James.

Originally Posted by Disburden

If you don't feel any draw on the blade when you're stropping, but the motions are correct, you're still going to get bad shaves.

Not true. While draw is correlated with sharpness it is neither necessary nor sufficient for sharpness. Some leathers and other common stropping materials have very little draw, yet produce great edges, e.g. shell cordovan, hose linen, and newspaper.

I feel like I know quite a bit about stropping, and yet I also feel we could have dramatically more complex testing and discussions about it as well. I was also hitting myself in the forehead this weekend when I realized I should have asked the barber that walked in on the NC Get-together to strop up a blade for us.

I also took note during the meet up that there are two very distinct methods for stropping; one is the group that uses finger-tips and the other seems to hold the razor deeply set into the hand and flips the wrist.

This morning, while testing the effect of an x pattern during the stropping stroke I actually blew my own mind to shreds when, for the first time ever, I actually stropped a razor to shave ready condition on one side and dullness on the opposing side. That was a new one to me . . . imagine being able to shave with one side of a razor only. Afterward I was able to repair all said damage by correct stropping. That was also an interesting epiphany.

I believe that what I think about stropping, besides it being important and that I should learn more about it is that:

1. Generally a light touch is best
2. Generally a flat strop is best
3. Generally the practicioner should think about simply producing a light polishing effect on the blade and that the word "polish" would help a lot of people do it better
4. There are times, when a slight deflection will actually help a blade perform better, but these are rare and shouldn't be done without a clear understanding of why and when
5. An x-pattern will often help, but not because of striational patterns, but simply to create a smooth consistent edge flow from base to tip
6. If the blade doesn't shave right you can take it back to the strop . . . and try again with a slightly different approach, even if the new approach is to simply try and follow my general guidance (points 1-3 better than the first time)
7. It is very easy to blow an edge on a strop, almost to the point where I would say that in the beginning your most likely result will be dulling
8. Just like honing, stropping is a process of using the same perfect stroke repeatedly in order to produce a certain result, in repetition, to an exacting detail

Thoughts?

The return stroke (spine coming at you) should be done at a greater pressure than the away stroke. This is especially true of older strops as the grain of the strop runs or points towards you.

I believe someone posted this a few years back that it came from an interview of someone who used to work for the Illinois strops. May not be relevent in today's age but I find it true of the older strops which I use.

Regards,
EL