Thread: Just nicked my new strop.

I agree with every one here. If your strop looks perfect, it ain't being used enough! I too nicked mine shortly after it arrived (I posted my HORRID, OBSCENE stropping technique in one of my posts), and at first I was bummed.

But it's not going to hurt anything, and frankly, it adds character! It's a strop that says, "That's right. I've been around the block or two, and I keep on stropping! What you gonna do about it?" And all the other smooth, brand new strops shiver in fear.

i actually just did a repair job on my strop about a week ago. it's my first strop (an Illinois #127) and it had probably about 4-5 nicks in it. i picked up some sand paper from home depot, pretty sure it was 400 grit - it was the second smoothest grit that they had, and i used really light pressure to sand out the nicks very gradually. it worked great! didn't need to use any contact cement. i actually think my strop looks even better now that it looks like it's seen some hard times haha.

The next strop I get, the first thing I'll do is take a sharp razor and nick it on purpose, then move on.

Originally Posted by JohnnyCakeDC

The next strop I get, the first thing I'll do is take a sharp razor and nick it on purpose, then move on.

That's the way I see, why worry, just get back into the game.

I believe that all new strops will get nicked at least once, especially if the user does not have decades of experience. Consider it a fact of life, deal with it accordingly, and then move on... just another 'notch in your belt' that you chalk up to experience.

Lets face it, if a strop was any good it would come with a factory nick so you wouldnt have to do it yourself.

All my strops are nicked, but I fixed them allwith rubber cement, it's cheap and flexable. Somehow it gets in the leather and bonds with it quite well.

I practice on a pair of blue jeans. I tore the heck out of first strop good thing I only paid $20.00 for my Philly.