Could my character use a belt to strop a razor?

July 3, 2012 11:43 AM

Straight razor question - would a leather belt be an acceptable strop? This is a question for a play I am working on.

I am currently rehearsing the role of Jean in Strindberg's "Miss Julie". At one point in the play, I am supposed to exit, saying I am going to shave, and then shortly after that I reappear with a razor and strop and begin to strop the blade. I don't have a rehearsal razor or strop yet, so I improvised by taking off my belt and using that with my pencil as a stand-in "razor". My director really liked it and asked me if I could do that "on the night". I told her I would look into it, since I don't know anything about using a straight razor.

The setting of the play is the very early 1900s. Jean is a footman in a count's household. I am certain that he would actually have a real strop, but hypothetically, would a belt work just as well? Or would the act of stropping ruin the belt?

posted by starvingartist to society & culture (13 answers total)

FWIW, I took a wood working class as an adult and the instructor routinely used his belt to strop chisels.
posted by plinth at 11:46 AM on July 3, 2012

You can use a belt as a strop in a pinch. In what time period does the play take place? What is your character's socioeconomic status and what is the dramatic necessity of their stropping the razor?
posted by gauche at 11:47 AM on July 3, 2012

Shoot, I see the answers to my questions. Yes, it would not be unheard of for such a character to use a belt for a strop if they needed to put a hone on a blade and didn't have anything better.
posted by gauche at 11:48 AM on July 3, 2012

Thanks, MeFi!
posted by starvingartist at 11:49 AM on July 3, 2012

Jean is the servant, right? I think it could work. It's unlikely he'd be wearing too fancy of a belt.
posted by Sara C. at 11:49 AM on July 3, 2012

It'd have to be a plain, leather belt, i.e., one without any sort of embroidering, branding, etching, or stitching.

Note that when you strop a razor you pull away from the cutting edge, so there's little chance of damage to the belt. It's just that anything other than a smooth leather surface stands a decent chance of damaging the blade, even if done properly. A razor's edge is a microscopic work of art, and dragging it across a rough surface jacks it up pretty badly. It's nothing that can't be fixed, but you'll have to re-hone and possibly re-grind the blade if it gets bunged up too badly.

Of course, if you're not using a real razor, there's nothing to worry about here. But do pull away from the cutting edge, or you'd wind up looking silly.
posted by valkyryn at 12:11 PM on July 3, 2012

But do pull away from the cutting edge, or you'd wind up looking silly.

IIUC, if you pull (push) toward the cutting edge, you'll wind up holding one end of the belt while the the other end hangs off whatever you tied it to, having been severed by the blade.
posted by spacewrench at 12:24 PM on July 3, 2012

Yes, it's a plain leather belt, and I'll be using a dull prop razor so we don't run the risk of hurting anyone. I've never stropped one before, but I just assumed that you pull away from the cutting edge. Thanks for the tips, though.
posted by starvingartist at 12:38 PM on July 3, 2012

When I was a lad, the chairs at the barber shop all had a thick, fat strip of leather hanging off one of the arms (maybe 3 inches by two feet). Years later, reading about shaving with a straight razor in the Whole Earth Catalog, I realized what those strips of leather were for.
posted by Rash at 1:33 PM on July 3, 2012

The thing about a strop is that you typically treat it with rouge, so it would make more sense to recycle an old dead belt as a strop rather than use the one you're currently using as a belt so as not to get rouge and steel all over your clothing.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 6:49 PM on July 3, 2012

> The thing about a strop is that you typically treat it with rouge, so it would make more sense to recycle an old dead belt as a strop rather than use the one you're currently using as a belt so as not to get rouge and steel all over your clothing.

Jean feels that he's actually superior to the upper-class while acutely aware that his station does not permit him to feel this way. He's not going to take off his own belt and use it as a strop.

Considering the importance of the razor to the plot, and considering Strindberg's role in introducing a naturalistic style of theater, I'd caution against going for such a stagey bit of business.
posted by desuetude at 10:38 PM on July 3, 2012 [2 favorites]

Something to consider, desuetude, thanks.
posted by starvingartist at 6:34 AM on July 4, 2012

Thanks. Feel free to Memail me if you want to talk it through further. (One of my favorite plays, and I was involved in a production many years ago.)
posted by desuetude at 8:00 AM on July 5, 2012