I switch hands while shaving and i'm noticing when i use my left hand for the left side of my face it doesn't cut the hairs like it used to. It leaves stubble, were as onmy right hand it shaves clean. I try changing angles but that doesn't work. I'm sure my stropping is less than perfect. Has anyone ever had this happen before? How can you tell if the blade is cupping?
Is my straight razor cupping?
- Thread starter Walker
- Start date
Blades can do many things depending on how you hone them but they don't cup. The probable reason for your situation is most likely because you are treating the razor differently between your two hands. That's very common.
- Thread starter
- #3
Then what do they mean when they say a 3"strop is more prone to cupping an edge?
I think you mean rolling an edge of the razor? 
Cupping does refer to the edges of a strop.
Cupping does refer to the edges of a strop.
A razor can be warped, i.e., slightly twisted, so that one side is not in good contact with the hone. When you hone, color the edge with black marker and that will reveal if one side is not getting honed well. If so, use a rolling X or a narrow hone.
- Thread starter
- #7
I see. Sorry bout getting cupping and rolling mixed up. I'm gonna chalk this one up to inexperiance. I guess whay's happening is since i always shaved with one hand before (cart razor) i haven't developed the muscle memory with my left hand. I just shaved with a new dovo spike point i got from SRD and it shaved like a dream with my left hand. I'm sure it's something i'm doing wrong. Just another hurdle to overcome in my quest for a BBS shave from a straight lol. Thanx guys for all your help.
- Thread starter
- #8
How do you roll an edge?
It sounds like you're either honing the two sides differently, or stropping them differently. It isn't unusual for this to happen to beginners. You have to be careful to use the same strokes and pressure on both sides of the blade, or it will get unequally sharp. The Japanese straight is a deliberate example of this - it is honed asymmetrically (more laps on one side than the other), one side gets sharper than the other (both by design of the razor and by the honing regimen) and you only use one side of it to shave with. But a similar effect can happen on a symmetrical western style razor if it isn't honed and stropped symmetrically.
- Thread starter
- #10
Ahhhhhh...... This is what i think is happening because the noise isn't consistent when i strop. Moving away from my body it kind of sounds like a sloshing sound were as moving towards my body there is hardly any sound at all. Ok so i am pretty much dulling one side of my blade?
Possibly, or possibly you just aren't stropping one side correctly and it dulled after a few shaves, or possibly it's making that different noise because it left the hone duller on one side. Did you hone your razor yourself? Did it start out evenly sharp and then one side degraded over time?
- Thread starter
- #12
It started out equally as sharp. I didn't hone them myself and I have noticed it within the past two weeks that my right side of my cheek is closer shaven then my left side. I guess I have been shaving with this razor for 3 or 4 months.
I'm trying to form a mental image of a blade that is sharp on only one side. I'm failing. The image that comes to mind is of a chisel. Flat side down . . . otherwise it digs in . . . I can't believe that uneven stropping or honing can get to that totally one sided thing . . .
My guess . . . harder to find correct angle with non-dominant hand.
My guess . . . harder to find correct angle with non-dominant hand.
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
Have you tried just using your right hand for both sides of your face? That's what I do.
- Thread starter
- #16
Not yet i guess it's worth a shot. I'm still confused on why it has been shaving fine for The last 4 months and now within the last two weeks it hasn't. I'm sure my stropping technique isn't the best because in the videos i watch the stropping sound is consistent, that is not the case with the noise as i strop. My razor, when i first got it woild lop the hairs off my face in one swipe. Now i have to do one stroke, wipe the blade and do another stroke. With my dominant hand on the right side of my face i still only need the one stroke to do a WTG pass. It's just something i gotta work on. I was just hoping this had happened to someone else before. As with all my problems it's a mystery 
Believe it. I suspect it's because we're cutting with the blade at an angle - they aren't cutting straight through the whiskers but are hitting them sideways, so the whiskers see only one bevel.
Back to the OP, since it started out evenly sharp and got asymmetric over time, it sounds like it's your stropping that needs correction. Go ahead and correct it on the hone, there's no sense fighting shaving with a troublesome blade. Then take care that the blade is flat against the strop in both directions, and you're using the same pressure both directions, the same tension on the strop, etc. And make sure you aren't accidentally flipping too early or too late only one end of they strop.
Edit: I just reread your last paragraph and another thought occurred to me: Are you sure your troubles aren't related to which side of your face you're shaving, more than which side of the blade you're using? I've heard of guys with tougher whiskers on one side of their face than the other. I know for me all my "tough" patches are on one side of my face. But they're tough no matter which side of the blade I'm using on them. So it's possible that your blade is simply beginning to get dull, and is having trouble with the tougher side of your face but still shaving easily on the easier side of your face. Is it tougher on your right side with both your right and left hands, or only when shaving that side with your left hand?
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #18
I'm sure the blade is getting duller since it hasn't been honed in 4 months. I never knew the whiskers on one side of a face could be tougher than the other side. I learned something today. That could be it. Although as i've said before, i do think my stropping needs to be improved. I will do some more tests to see if i can pin point the problem because i'm sure if i don't find the problem this is gonna keep happening. Thanks for all your help guys.
