Thread: Strop scratches

Somehow, the very end of my razor's edge got bent a little and I scratched the strop while stropping it. The scratches are really tiny but there are quite a few of them. Should I do anything about it? I doubt they affect the stropping process at all - not deep enough. Should I apply some dressing or just massage it with my hands and forget about it?

If you have dressing you can apply it and it may make them less noticeable to the eye. That's what i did to mine. If you don't have any i don't think you need buy any just for this.

I agree - if they are just little surface scratches I wouldn't worry too much, although you might want to do something about that razor's edge!

James.

Thanks. I have some dressing that came with the strop.

The edge is a whole other issue but I'm not ready to deal with it right now.

Yea, nicks on your new, beautiful strop. This was happening to me in the beginning. I would lightly sandpaper the nicks, and rub it down with a dressing or an oil. The nicks stopped when I improved my stropping technique, i.e. by lifting the edge just before you complete each stroke. It's done almost as a single movement. At the end of the stroke, while keeping the spine on the leather, you lift the edge(turn) and at the same time start the other direction placing the edge back on the leather, as your moving. I know that's a mouthful, but if you can watch a video done by good stroppers in slow motion, this is what is happening. LX Emergency(Alex), and, of course Lynn Abrams are good examples of this.

Just my 2 cents

Regards,

Steve

Originally Posted by zepplin

Yea, nicks on your new, beautiful strop. This was happening to me in the beginning. I would lightly sandpaper the nicks, and rub it down with a dressing or an oil. The nicks stopped when I improved my stropping technique, i.e. by lifting the edge just before you complete each stroke. It's done almost as a single movement. At the end of the stroke, while keeping the spine on the leather, you lift the edge(turn) and at the same time start the other direction placing the edge back on the leather, as your moving. I know that's a mouthful, but if you can watch a video done by good stroppers in slow motion, this is what is happening. LX Emergency(Alex), and, of course Lynn Abrams are good examples of this.

Just my 2 cents

Regards,

Steve

With along the same lines instead of using sandpaper you can use a poumis(spelling) stone and lightly rub the areas if they are pieces that are sticking up..

Then you can apply the dressing to the strop.

Originally Posted by pilothaz

With along the same lines instead of using sandpaper you can use a poumis(spelling) stone and lightly rub the areas if they are pieces that are sticking up..

Then you can apply the dressing to the strop.

Thanks, Pilothaz. I should do that, get some pumas(sp?, too).

Even though I don't get the nicks anymore, my neighbor, Eli, and I do "shave in's", in my bathroom now and then. I recruited him! The other day, he was using my strop, and nicked the heck out of it. I guess I need to re-school him on the art of stropping. I don't want to hurt his feelings, but, hey, that's my beautiful TM strop he's abusing. I'll be gentle with him.

* Bye-the-bye, I really like your Avatar! It's very cool! Funny how we relate to people's avatar's, like that's what they really look like, or how we imagine them: GW, Doc4, The Professor, etc., etc..

Steve

Originally Posted by zepplin

Thanks, Pilothaz. I should do that, get some pumas(sp?, too).

Even though I don't get the nicks anymore, my neighbor, Eli, and I do "shave in's", in my bathroom now and then. I recruited him! The other day, he was using my strop, and nicked the heck out of it. I guess I need to re-school him on the art of stropping. I don't want to hurt his feelings, but, hey, that's my beautiful TM strop he's abusing. I'll be gentle with him.

* Bye-the-bye, I really like your Avatar! It's very cool! Funny how we relate to people's avatar's, like that's what they really look like, or how we imagine them: GW, Doc4, The Professor, etc., etc..

Steve

If you are referring to my avatar thanks! Though it looks NOTHING like what I do lol.
This is me...


AND here is what I was meaning Pumice. Damn how did I spell that wrong...
Pumice Block
Canadian BC Mined Pumice

I use pumice for deeper stuff and 600-1000 grit sandpaper to give the area a final polish. After that, I dry-wipe the strop, use a saddle/tack cleaner to make sure it's nice and clean (no leftover abrasive particles), condition and leave for a day.
When I got back, I guess my strop got a bit warped in transport and I got 3 nasty nicks in it in a single stroke This procedure took care of it.