Strop Anxiety

[NateM]

Hi,

I was a Mach3 user until christmas when my lovely girlfriend got me a shavette and badger brush kit as a surprise present. Since then I've been shaving much more regularly, which the girlfriend loves (no more stubble rash! ), as the ritual of lathering up and shaving is just so much more enjoyable.

A few weeks ago, I decided to order my first real straight, from ruprazor, and since it will hopefully be arriving soon (volcanic ash permitting), I've started to get nervous.

Strangely though, I'm not as nervous about using the razor as I am about stropping it. I think my shaving technique with the shavette is already pretty good, but I'm worried I'm going to roll the edge of the straight the first time I strop.

I've been reading as many posts on these forums about it as I can about stropping techniques, but it doesn't make me any less nervous. Does anyone have any hints/suggestions/words of wisdom that might help?

 

[Chimensch]

There's really nothing to say. When you pull the strop taut and lay the razor on it, it will all make sense.

 

[Pumpkin]

There's really nothing to say. When you pull the strop taut and lay the razor on it, it will all make sense.

+1

After reading the threads and watching the videos, actually getting your hands on the gear makes it all click together!

Some tips though:

Make sure you won't be interrupted/disturbed.
If your strop is fixed to a door handle, lock the door.
Watch how you turn the razor at the end of each lap, it's easy to flip it the wrong way (over the edge) and cut the strop.
Take your time...it's a very sharp edge!
Relax!!

(I've only had 8 straight shaves so I'm no expert! )

 

[Pumpkin]

BTW...welcome to B&B!!

 

[Will P.C.]

Don't go crazy fast and try to learn the proper way

 

[brentaar]

Keep your attention on what you are doing. The only times i nick the strop are when I don't pay attention. This is especially important after you think you have the hang of it. When I thought i was getting the hang of stropping, my hyper-attention left and that is when i got the worst nicks in my strop. Luckily, i did the real damage to a very cheap strop, but unfortunately it also happened to my expensive strop.

So i'm holding off at least a month before i towards the good strop.

You might want to get a cheap strop and cheap straight to practice.

whippeddog.com has inexpensive strops and straights that work great to practice on.

 

[huntmol]

• Stropping is a very important part of edge maintenance. You'll get it, it just takes practice!
• Always flip the blade with the spine resting on the strop. Never lift the spine.
• As you're nearing the top of the strop, start lifting the edge and rolling it over before you get to the end. (Many nicks are caused by stopping the stropping motion while the blade edge is on the strop.) When you get to the top, stop and reverse direction all without letting the edge hit the strop. Then as you start to move back the other direction, let the edge come in contact for the journey down the strop. As you reach the bottom, start to lift before you get to the end. Etc.
• Watch your pressure. Most new guys will use pressure when stropping, and it's not at all necessary.
• Finally, realize that everyone nicks their strop sooner or later. When it happens, just breathe. It's an easy fix with a pumice stone.

 

[Loner16]

I treated myself to a Tony Miller strop last month. Luckily I got the practice strop along with it, and I just might need another practice strop before I graduate to "the big time.."

I'm glad now that I've never touched a razor to the TM yet!

 

[treydampier]

Watch some videos. I assure you it isn't hard. You need to keep the strop tight, but not rigid. Its a smooth medium speed stroke. I have found that people often nick them by either moving too slow or too fast. Either way, watch the turns. I also recommend trying to strops a folded newspaper first. Make sure you aren't using enough pressure to bend the paper. Then move to the cloth sine its less expensive if you cut it.
Take your time, its not hard to do, but there is a learnign curve that if you do as I did, will be expensive.
Good Luck and welcome to B&B!

 

[W_B_K]

In addition to using some sort of practice strop, get a practice razor too. It sounds like you don't have a hone as you are worried about rolling the edge. There are plenty of really cheap ones on eBay that would be fine for practicing the "feel". That is what I did anyway

 

[NateM]

Thanks for all the great advice, and for the warm welcome.

I can't wait till my blade and strop arrives. I'm really getting excited about it! (is that sad?)

 

[Chimensch]

Thanks for all the great advice, and for the warm welcome.

I can't wait till my blade and strop arrives. I'm really getting excited about it! (is that sad?)

Not sad at all. Just be patient. Nothing about straight shaving is hard to learn but it does take some persistance.

 

[ofelas]

Practice stropping with a butter knife.

 

[huntmol]

Practice stropping with a butter knife.

+1

I did this and found it excellent technique practice for the real thing.

 

[heirkb]

+1

I did this and found it excellent technique practice for the real thing.

+2 I was thinking the same thing and wondering why nobody else had suggested it.
I can understand how stropping is scary at first. I'm still not the best at it, but it's gotten to the point where I'm pretty confident in my stropping and that didn't take too long.

 

[treydampier]

Guys,
You need to stop this butter knife stuff. How can we effectively start this guy on a path to good SAD if you are preventing him from cutting his first strop. Straights, strops and hones are addictions that need to be fed!
This is great advice, and I wish I had received it before I started.

 

[Pumpkin]

Guys,
You need to stop this butter knife stuff. How can we effectively start this guy on a path to good SAD if you are preventing him from cutting his first strop. Straights, strops and hones are addictions that need to be fed!
This is great advice, and I wish I had received it before I started.

When I was planning my entry into straights, I bought an extra razor (a blunt ebay special) just to practice stropping with! I still nicked the strop when I used a "live" blade...but probably too a lesser extent than was possible