Thread: critique my stropping

It seems more appropriate it place this thread in the Stropping forum than the Beginners...

However, I am a beginner and have only stropped my razor two or three times (have only shave two or three times). I'd like to make sure I nip any bad habits in the bud and am thereby asking anyone with a good degree of experience to watch my short stropping video and provide constructive feedback:

YouTube - a beginner stropping

1 - is the strop taut enough?
2 - I'm trying to place very little pressure on the blade...is this correct?
3 - I'm trying not to turn my wrist too much but rather rotate the blade using my fingers.... is this correct?
4 - is my diagonal pattern adequate?

Please provide the feedback on SRP, not youtube

PS - I usually strop more than this....about 20x on the linen and 40x on the leather, but have cut it down in the video for the sake of brevity.

Strop seems taut enough from the vid. It is hard to tell but it sounds to me like your pressing too hard. I may be wrong. You need to keep the spine on the strop but you needn't apply more pressure than it takes to do that. If you watch the video you will see that you are stropping heel to point on the stroke going towards you but you are missing the point end of the razor completely going away.

IME if you hold the tang further out on your index finger towards the tip it might make the flip and the tactile feel of feedback better. YMMV. I found that when I began to strop with the tips of my index finger and thumb I was better able to control how much pressure I apply to the edge. Again, YMMV, everyone sort of adapts their own thing as they learn. I think your wrist is fine.

The only other thing is also personal preference. The old barbers hooked their strops on a hook on the arm of their barber chairs. The strop was usually level of slightly higher at the hand end than at the hook. I stop attached to a door knob to achieve that relationship. A lot of guy strop 'uphill' hooked to a towel rack but I wouldn't be comfortable with it.

looks good .
But please pay attention to your thumb. Try to put your thumb on top of the shank not on the side of it. you are doing right but not exactly.
remember i post link about stropping on your early thread. person was stropping ? check that video again. your thumb should be on the top and you would be able to control your pressure better.your left hand has to tight strop a little better.
Slow down too. you will have speed up later on don't worry about the speed.
while you were on linen side you were missing tip of the blade. when you move to leather you did fix that problem.
Most people have wrist problem but you don't have it , that is a great.

Originally Posted by anjp

1 - is the strop taut enough?
2 - I'm trying to place very little pressure on the blade...is this correct?
3 - I'm trying not to turn my wrist too much but rather rotate the blade using my fingers.... is this correct?
4 - is my diagonal pattern adequate?

1. yes
2. too much pressure. I believe its preferable to attach the strop to a door nob and hold it level. That way the forward and back stroke will have the same pressure. Your up stroke you are applying to much pressure, notice how the strop bends.
4. no, look at the video many of the strokes the entire length of the blade is not getting strop (the tip or point section).

Critique yourself

My Favorite Instructional Stropping Video

Also, if you attach your strop to a doorknob, make sure you cinch it really well and pull tension the right way. I've heard some tragic tales of strop mutilation that start with, "my strop slipped over the doorknob and..."

Originally Posted by richmondesi

Critique yourself

My Favorite Instructional Stropping Video

Also, if you attach your strop to a doorknob, make sure you cinch it really well and pull tension the right way. I've heard some tragic tales of strop mutilation the start with, "my strop slipped over the doorknob and..."

Thanks for posting that video it really helped me out.Don.

I usually attach my strop to the middle door hinge on the door. I pop the pin a little and find that to be excellent, stable and the perfect height for me.

I wouldnt say that you have to have your strop at waist level. My strops are almost mid chest, about what you have. If I were you , I would work on an x pattern. I noticed that your tip (toe) isnt receiving much stropping, as its always off the strop. When at the top of the strop, pull the razor toward you on your stroke down. And when on the bottom..you do almost the same at an angle up and in...creating an x pattern.

I am bad about having my thumb on the side of the shank too

Originally Posted by Oldfalguy

I am bad about having my thumb on the side of the shank too

Just to add to the confusion:
As I have understood it, when you hold the straight with the spine on the strop, your thumb should be on the bottom, jimped side of the shank. This would be the neutral position before any rotation has occured. The index finger should be on the top of the shank. But when you rotate the razor either way to get the edge to contact the strop, you roll it between your fingertips, hence the thumb is bound to end up on the side of the shank to avoid turning the wrist. This is what I read in the barber's manual in the wiki, and it works for me.