You Told Me This Would Happen

[Alum of Potash]

P.S. I did a new search, and it looks like Sham's video on stropping is still available on Youtube. Really good advice in my opinion (the recommended procedure starts at around 2:34, after a couple of illustrations leading up to it), although I hold both elements together when stropping rather than let one dangle.

 

[Slash McCoy]

OR.... !!! You COULD go back to using a safety razor until the replacement arrives. Dont have a safety razor ? Maybe you could.... do I dare say it... use a cartridge razor !!!

Oh the shame !!!!

Or one of these.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08J9MVBWL/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They aren't too bad, actually, but toss those blades and buy Feather DE blades. Or 7 oclock greens or Israeli Personnas or whatever, if the Feather is just too extreme for you.

 

[Frank Shaves]

Sorry to hear. I would try sanding the cut area and keep using the damaged piece (and not cutover, pardon the pun, to the new piece) until you have gone a few weeks without any nicks.

For me, the key is to focus on keeping the spine on the leather, letting the edge trail. At risk of sounding like a born-again stropper, focus on the spine, not the edge.

 

[KW Driver]

A zen master told me, "Slow is fast." Also mentioned is how setbacks are teachable moments. Yes, I'm taking it well--I'm incredibly wealthy and good looking, so I can hold off on shaving.

I've got to make some time to create something out of newspaper or denim. I have nothing but options.

"slow is smooth, smooth is fast"

you can also glue down a flap, and/or sand it smooth.

 

[SparkyLB]

Or one of these.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08J9MVBWL/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They aren't too bad, actually, but toss those blades and buy Feather DE blades. Or 7 oclock greens or Israeli Personnas or whatever, if the Feather is just too extreme for you.

Happily my straight is working a charm. Now the focus is no cuts on the leather couch. My wife will murderlize me.

Sorry to hear. I would try sanding the cut area and keep using the damaged piece (and not cutover, pardon the pun, to the new piece) until you have gone a few weeks without any nicks.

For me, the key is to focus on keeping the spine on the leather, letting the edge trail. At risk of sounding like a born-again stropper, focus on the spine, not the edge.

Thanks. Yes. My first instinct was to say, "I knew that," but a part of me was becoming impressed about how fast and expert I was becoming. Lesson learned.

"slow is smooth, smooth is fast"

you can also glue down a flap, and/or sand it smooth.

I'm going to try that, or make a travel strop as @Alum of Potash stated.

 

[martym]

A zen master told me, "Slow is fast." Also mentioned is how setbacks are teachable moments. Yes, I'm taking it well--I'm incredibly wealthy and good looking, so I can hold off on shaving.

I've got to make some time to create something out of newspaper or denim. I have nothing but options.

A zen master’s master taught me in firearms many many years ago that slow is smooth and smooth is fast.
Same same

 

[SparkyLB]

A zen master’s master taught me in firearms many many years ago that slow is smooth and smooth is fast.
Same same

agreed

 

[SparkyLB]

It will involve a lot of flipping practice!

I don't believe how long it took me to "get" your pun. Well played.

 

[Tomo]

After about a year of daily stropping, the only damage to it were a few deep scratches, that happened after I modified a Gold Dollar. The grind edges on the French point was so sharp at the back, that it scratched the strop. Taught me to round them a bit.

I was a little annoyed to discover a scratch in my new strop this morning. Only a minor one but still… And of course it had to be my now irreplaceable Kanayama.

How it happened is a mystery. In nearly three years of daily stropping this is the first time I damaged a strop. It’s not on the ends of the stroke and it’s not in the direction of my typical stropping strokes. It’s right in the middle at a strange angle. There’s no slicing at all to the cut. Just a light scratch. It is just perceptible to the touch against the rest of the strop which glass smooth.

It didn’t come like this. It is definitely new damage. Luckily I doubt that it will have any effect on the stropping. With time it may even start to blend in.

I suspect that this was caused by one of my new Bengalls. The edges of the round point are ground quite sharp. You can scrape your fingernail with them like you would if you were doing a ski or ice skate sharpness test. I remember doing some rolling strokes to work the upturned toe on one of these razors. I used a few other strops but did the final finishing on the Kanayama. Everything else looks fine. This is the only scratch.

After reading your post I immediately sanded down the edges of the round point. In future I will check all incoming razors. It could have been worse I suppose. I probably dodged a bullet but it’s still really annoying.

 

[SparkyLB]

Sorry to hear. That's tough. On that last pic you can see with detail how glass-smooth the strop is. As you said, it doesn't appear as though it'll have an effect on stropping. My brain doesn't handle "unresolved" very well. It would be nice to know the source of the wound.

 

[rbscebu]

@Tomo, your Kanayama looks almost absolutely ruined. Best you PIF it, restricted to FNQ, while it still has some useful life in it.

 

[APBinNCA]

@Tomo, your Kanayama looks almost absolutely ruined. Best you PIF it, restricted to FNQ, while it still has some useful life in it.

That's cold...
Well played

 

[Tomo]

@Tomo, your Kanayama looks almost absolutely ruined. Best you PIF it, restricted to FNQ, while it still has some useful life in it.

And all for a flea bay beater…

 

[Biltong & Boerewors]

I was a little annoyed to discover a scratch in my new strop this morning. Only a minor one but still… And of course it had to be my now irreplaceable Kanayama.

How it happened is a mystery. In nearly three years of daily stropping this is the first time I damaged a strop. It’s not on the ends of the stroke and it’s not in the direction of my typical stropping strokes. It’s right in the middle at a strange angle. There’s no slicing at all to the cut. Just a light scratch. It is just perceptible to the touch against the rest of the strop which glass smooth.

It didn’t come like this. It is definitely new damage. Luckily I doubt that it will have any effect on the stropping. With time it may even start to blend in.

I suspect that this was caused by one of my new Bengalls. The edges of the round point are ground quite sharp. You can scrape your fingernail with them like you would if you were doing a ski or ice skate sharpness test. I remember doing some rolling strokes to work the upturned toe on one of these razors. I used a few other strops but did the final finishing on the Kanayama. Everything else looks fine. This is the only scratch.

After reading your post I immediately sanded down the edges of the round point. In future I will check all incoming razors. It could have been worse I suppose. I probably dodged a bullet but it’s still really annoying.

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Yup, the prime suspect would be a sharply squared back of a point. Knowing your sense of German perfection, it would probably bother you, but mine was much worse, and it doesn't affect the stropping.

I was thinking about buying the last Kanayama for sale in a shop in the UK, but I will be heartbroken if a mishap spoiled it, so I passed. I will stick to my DIY Cordovan strops, I have plenty of spare leather to replace them.

Try to think of it as character!

 

[Seelector]

The knowledge that you gents have is amazing. I happened to re-read this thread today and this advice jumped off the screen at me:

Instead, I was counseled to grip the shank from side to side (in the area of the branding), biassed towards the edge with the thumb, and make the flip by turning the blade with my thumb and forefinger and a slight turn of the hand so that the thumb was in the same orientation with the edge on each side.

I'm new to SR shaving and even newer to stropping. I have no idea how I'm actually gripping the shank but I've never felt very confident about it. Every time I flip, my thumb and forefinger walk a little bit closer to the heel and I have to reset them every 10 laps or so. Getting closer and closer to the edge worries me to the point where I thought about wearing cut resistant gloves while stropping. I think adjusting my grip will really help.

Thank you all for the knowledge you pass on to us noobies.

 

[SparkyLB]

I had the same revelation and sentiment you mention above. I read it a few times before I realized it. The amount of control is immensely different depending on the grip one has on the blade.

 

[Steve56]

I was a little annoyed to discover a scratch in my new strop this morning. Only a minor one but still… And of course it had to be my now irreplaceable Kanayama.

How it happened is a mystery. In nearly three years of daily stropping this is the first time I damaged a strop. It’s not on the ends of the stroke and it’s not in the direction of my typical stropping strokes. It’s right in the middle at a strange angle. There’s no slicing at all to the cut. Just a light scratch. It is just perceptible to the touch against the rest of the strop which glass smooth.

It didn’t come like this. It is definitely new damage. Luckily I doubt that it will have any effect on the stropping. With time it may even start to blend in.

I suspect that this was caused by one of my new Bengalls. The edges of the round point are ground quite sharp. You can scrape your fingernail with them like you would if you were doing a ski or ice skate sharpness test. I remember doing some rolling strokes to work the upturned toe on one of these razors. I used a few other strops but did the final finishing on the Kanayama. Everything else looks fine. This is the only scratch.

After reading your post I immediately sanded down the edges of the round point. In future I will check all incoming razors. It could have been worse I suppose. I probably dodged a bullet but it’s still really annoying.

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I just saw this post, for fine scratches like this, wipe the stop with a damp cloth and let it dry. The scratches will be gone.