Added: 3 years ago
From: tonstrina
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  • Sexy

  • Swing/jazz rocks!!! I have a ? for anyone that can answear it... Back in the day did they use somekinda honing compound on the strop like we do in todays age or was it just a peice of leather/canvas???

  • I am quite confused about how to strop the razors as in other videos, they say holding the strop tight and not applying pressure to the razor is very important. In this video he is doing just the opposite and i am sure he is a professional and knows exactly what he is doing. I am not critisising the stropping method but would like to know which is the correct way of stropping a straight razor.

  • Health and safety would love to have a chat with that guy.

  • there is a different method of stropping, hanging loose like that you apply a lot of pressure with the spine, and let the edge follow lightly. so long as the leather is curving around the spine and not the blade, you will not dull the blade. this is however fairly difficult and may need a lot of practice before you get it right.

  • definitely ain't that guys first rodeo

  • ... ol' Sweeny... he never had any problems w' his blade... to each 'is own.

  • Are you not letting that razor strop hang WAY WAY WAY to loose? I pull mine tight enough that it does not bend/curve at all as I strop. Does not letting it hang that loose cause the arch of the leather over the blade to dull the edge?

    Thank you

  • I have a beginners question. Please help.

    When I apply a stropping compound, do i apply it to a spare leather strop or spare canvas strop?

  • isn't the strop suppose to be tight?? i mean isn't suppose to be pulling it harder cause the curve of it causes the blade to dull

  • There are more videos of this guy actually shaving with the razors he strops. Don't think he would have stayed in business for this long if he kept cutting up men's faces with a dull razor.

  • @JDaddyChicka ,

    Yeah, he's not pulling near tight enough. The strop will form around the blade in a curvature fashion, not properly re-aligning the blade. I'll have one of my straight razor shaves, at least I know the blade is sharp. As for Madam Priscilla Lee's comment, Sweeny Todd stayed in business too!

  • An almost long lost art. The best shave you can get is also the most traditional one.

  • Theres just something about razor-sharp blades and classical music that just makes me smile

  • lol u mean jazz?

  • @elcatalan Not 'classic' the genre, classic in the "bronzed" sense

  • @OverHedge99 That's not classical music, that's jazz. Jazz is not classical. Jazz is timeless.

  • @Shangas That ain't jazz! That's swing! :)

  • any1 know the name os the song?

  • begin the beguine- possibly by ken burns!

  • title- begin the beguine

    artist- artie shaw

    album- (that i know you can find it on) 21 swing band all time greats

  • @yahoochiewatchie

    It's The Artie Shaw Orchestra off the album Begin the Beguine.

  • LOVE LOVE LOVE LVOE LOVE the music :) makes me happy and do you have any place (in Toronto) that i can find one like that? maybe longer? minus the over charge

  • Just challenging precoceptions my friend, speak as you find.

  • So I tried his technique and although at odds with stropping folklore my razors have a far better edge.

  • I wish that someone like Mr Finnegan lived closer. Real Barbers are real rare to find these days. Cheers to you Liam!

  • he's doing it wrong...the strop should be taut

  • the man has been doing it for 40 years......i think he'd know

  • it's less effective having so much slack on the strop...most accurate resources will tell you this.

  • Everyone has his own technique. So if for us newbs a taut strop is better, then why is a slacking strop less effective for him, because he knows what he's doing?

    I really like this vid, and I like straight razor shaving! 5/5

  • doing something for 40 years isnt necessarily a justification of correctness.....ted kennedy was a fuckup for more than 40 years and kept getting voted in by people more ignorant than he was....sometimes longevity just means your audience is gullable and naive.

  • @jedirifleman cool, where's yer instructional on stroping?

  • @Cairnsy Yet he looks to be using a lot of pressure and not keeping the strop taught at all...

  • After reviewing this again and again I think if he's keeping the tension on the razor's spine then that's the trick. In this situation the leather would be taut from the spine back to his hand allowing for the proper stropping angle.

  • Hey there, i am planning to buy Straight razor but i wonder if its Necessary to buy Razor Strop too???

  • Hi, A strop is an essential part of the open razor kit.

    As the previous post says the hone sets the required bevel but you will need a strop and paste to keep the edge on it.

    Most good strops have a leather side and a canvas side.

    Regards.

  • Thx for info :)

  • Comment removed

  • so what does this do opposed to honing it?

    or what does honing do for that matter lol

  • Putting it simply honing is done on stones and sets the initial bevel & then refines it. Stropping is done on leather after and in the opposite direction to polish & align the microteeth in the honed edge.

  • His stropping techniqe is all wrong, he's dulling the blade by allowing the strop so much slack. It should be held as tight as possible so that the microscopic edge on the blade will be straightened out

  • No, his technique is perfect.

    Watch the slow mo closely.

    His left hand is hard against his hip and the razor is dead flat on a straight, flat stropping surface for each stroke. The strop wraps around the spine of the razor but the edge

    trails on a flat surface. There is no way he is rolling the edge but at full speed you may get that impression.

  • Because the strop is hanging, and the leather is flexible, it will curl towards the edge -- but yeah, his technique is fine; straight razors are hollow ground, so the curling leather goes into the hollow instead of rounding the edge. A normal straight-beveled edge on a knife needs to be stropped flat on a hard surface.

  • Don't know much about knives but some Str8s are wedge grinds as well and all can be stropped on a hanging or a paddle strop. The spine/edge relationship on razor gives you a guaranteed honing & stropping angle. The only way you can get it wrong is to lift the spine off the strop changing that angle or of course, excessive pressure.

  • What is the name of that song?

    I have mine pretty tight, yeah. But I'm only 17 so I still lack the finesse of stropping. Am I the only 17 year old who shaves like his grandfather?

  • Begin The Beguine by Artie Shaw & His Orchestra.

  • I would, but my mother and father won't let me shave with a straight razor. I still use the brush and soap though. Soap totally trumps cream in every aspect.

  • What age are you?

  • @thewhoppinator Hey, I'm also 17 and I also shave with straight razors :P I'm all about retro stuff XD

  • @thewhoppinator

    I'm 17 and I'm starting to learn the straight edge =)

  • @thewhoppinator Probably. But that's cool. I'm 23 and shave with a straight. 

  • @thewhoppinator  no im 19 and I also use a straight razor to shave

  • The old timers have their individual ways. I do have to question though why he allows so much slack in the strop. All resources I've come across mention that this is most undesirable as it only contributes to dulling the edge. These sources say the strop must be as taught as possible - and that's how I've always done it for decades now.

  • I'll bet that old gentleman has done that all of his life!!

  • I think he's done that once...or twice...or more...OK a whole lot!

  • I have seen a few ofthese, this is the definitive version, I'm off to practice.

    Terry

  • Just don't get spanked with one of these!

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