Stropping for a newbie

[mattbikes1]

I should be receiving my first straight, a Dovo Best Quality with Latigo strop from Vintage, tomorrow or so. I have done thorough research about stropping and I know that I could easily dull my blade if not done right. From what I have read and seen, the key is a tightly tensioned strop and light pressure (almost none) on the blade with the whole blade surface on the strop (no angle besides the inherent angle due to the spine to edge contact on the strop). I am just wondering, far all you straight razor veterans out there, any issues that I should be aware of and any tips you might have? Also, I assume that the razor will come shave ready, and I mean actually shave ready, as it is from Vintage. Can anyone confirm this? All tips and suggestions are appreciated. Thank you in advance.

 

[Arock]

Resist the urge to put blade to strop right away! Practice a little with a butter knife and once you have that down practice flipping the razor in place. Once your able to do both these things you're ready to start. This will likely save you some nicks in your lovely latigo leather.

Arock

 

[mackie]

I would recomend laying the strop on a table edge and strop like that for a while till you get the hang of it. That way you will not have to worry about sagging. Then once you have the technique down, hang it on the wall and use it. Don't strop it until you have shaved with it to see how it will perform.

 

[thecornerbooth]

I had some problems flipping the razor using only my fingers in the beginning. One thing that worked for me was to stand in front of a full length mirror and practice flipping the razor using my fingers as if i was using an invisible strop. This allowed me to see that i was rotating the razor a full 180 degrees without damaging my blade or strop.

 

[Luc]

On top of what was mentioned here. Make sure you have enough room and that your strop is straight when you pull on it (not twisted). Take your time, this is not a speed contest.