Thread: question about nicks

how much does a nick impact a blade while stropping?

I haven't noticed any majorly adverse effects but it may be bad for the strop. Rub it out with some pumice, clean the abrasive particles off the strop and condition it as soon as possible.

Ilija's advice is good for the strop, IMHO. If you're only talking about small nicks, the edge of the blade might be OK, but there will have to be some damage done I'd expect. The extent of which will depend on the severity of the nick/cut/gouge/cleaving in twain.

James.

As mentioned, depends on the location and severity of the nick. The strop I use daily has a few nicks, and even some edge cracking. It's a very old strop, but it works great despite the defects. I have no problems with it at all.

Now just for comparison, I have another leather strop from an antiques store that had very deep gouges. I tried smoothing them out with sandpaper, by shaving the leather, etc. Nothing worked. Some of the gouges/cuts were nearly all the way through the leather to the back side. I finally cut the side of the strop off, completely removing the damaged leather. It now has a curved edge and just a narrow strip remaining (see photo). But, I can still use it to strop my razor. You'd think the altered edge would prevent stropping, but it doesn't. It looks ugly as h#// though and I don't use it.

I'm not recommending anyone do this to their strop either. Just thought you all might find it interesting, maybe horrifying, sad, etc. I'm still kinda sorry I had to perform such extensive surgury on this one. Maybe some will be suprised that a strop like this would actually still work??

Attachment 1863

Scott

P.S. - I bought this strop mainly for it's Irish Linen Canvas strop which is in perfect condition.

Originally Posted by honedright

... Maybe some will be suprised that a strop like this would actually still work??

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Scott

Yep, put me in that category. I fixate on any little bump or cut in my strop. I was thinking of buying a new one (cue wife rolling eyes) just so it was smooth. So it's good to know what you can get away with in terms of strops. Thanks Scott. (I'm sure my wife thanks you too...)

James.

Here are some detail photos of the strop I do use daily. The entire strop is relatively flat and smooth, but not "perfect." It still performs great. Maybe these examples will give an idea of what can be acceptable "damage" to a strop, while still allowing excellent performance.

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Scott

thanks for the responses guys, these nicks aren't extreme, just on the surface not deep at all...i just wanted to know if these would hinder the performance of the strop.

it appears as though i could peel off the nicked ends and it would remain a smooth surface again...or sand it down with a fine grit, possibly just rub it a bit and remove the hanging slit surface by finger...i dont' want to damage this piece though is all and i dont want IT damaging my blade in anyway.

Scott, you could use that "barber's notch" strop to make a mini bench-hone.

Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

Scott, you could use that "barber's notch" strop to make a mini bench-hone.

Maybe, but I wouldn't know what to do with it!

Scott

Originally Posted by honedright

Maybe, but I wouldn't know what to do with it!

Scott

If you've got an abundance, I'm sure there would be a newb in need of one