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Gents,
I'm starting to notice a pattern forming on my heirloom latigo. It looks almost like a slightly darker, almost grey, fine fur and is forming in a sort of tiger/zebra pattern. It is very slight.
Should I be worried or taking any action? I did think I'd oil it to see if it disappeared, but on second thoughts I'm not in a rush to do that as it is still flexible enough.
No, actually I think you have yourself one of Tony's rare and exotic "Predator vs Prey" razor strops. Got to get me one of those...
No, really...all joking aside, I have no idea what's happening to your strop. Tony will chime in though.
Scott
Fur-like spots? Is it just on the surface, and can you wipe it off easily? If so, perhaps this is mold or mildew.Quote:
Originally Posted by welshwarrior
Not sure how Ireland's climate is, but here in Florida, if we don't run the air conditioner or a dehumidifier in our house during the more humid times of the year, we can see the grey fur-like spots of mold start to appear on surfaces. I just found it on my leather shoes in a closet the other day. Had to open up the closet and left air circulate in there.
If this is indeed what it is, it should just wipe off. If if continues to grow back, as it did on the gourd of a calabash pipe I have, you will need to wipe it off with something that will kill it. I used a clorox bleach cleaning wipe on the pipe, and it hasn't returned, but I doubt this is the right thing for your strop! Maybe Tony could answer that one. I wouldn't use it on my TM heirloom latigo without being told it is safe to do so. You should also consider storing it in a less-humid environment.
Andrew
Nope, it's not mould. Climate is okay here. It's like the pattern of the bark on an oak tree, areas that are slightly more raised than others.
Pictures are worth a thousand words - and I could have spared a hundred or so on just my post :D.
Can you post a pic?
Andrew
How's this? The lighter patches feel like a raised area to the touch.
Do you have a razor with a worked spine? I have one and it leaves streaks on the surface of my strop even at gentle pressure. Hand-rubbing usually fixes that.
They look like fat lines to me. Could they be the places where the cow had subcutantious fat under the skin? This often causes a pattern in the skin surface. It might only be showing up because of a worked or sharpish spine scraping the finish off the highest spots in the leather. Is your strop a little dry, or has the weather changed dramatically with the onset of spring perhaps causing either a drying of the finish or a swelling of the flesh allowing these area to be scraped more harshly than the rest of the srtop?
If its a little dry or been a significant time since you last conditioned your strop a light conditioning might be in order.
Thanks for all your advice and input so far, all.
Update on this:
I conditioned the strop and it looked good as new after a few hours.
I stropped this morning using one of my rotation and the marks started appearing again. A further investigation reveals that the spine of the razor has some hone-wear on it which is causing it to rub on the strop. The strop is raised slightly in some areas which is why the pattern is forming in some areas worse than others.
Has anyone else experienced this? It seems a bit of a pain but is the only solution to tape my spines before stropping?
I would say the solution is not to worry about it to much. It is happening due to the way the cow grew his skin not anything you did or are doing, accept that in a natural product there are natural inconsistancies, they won't affect the effect the strop has on the razor.
I'm with Tim on this one. Plain hone wear should have no real effect on the strop. As long as it does its job, don't worry about the pattern.
Unless it starts to take on the shape of a famous person or biblical figure. Then you should flog it on ebay for a small fortune.Quote:
Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT
James.
I'm going to guess that this is not unusual. My Latigo practice strop has exactly the same patina.
As long as it is maintaining your edge properly I wouldn't worry too much.
Hey, that looks just like my ex-wife's butt! Where'd you get that strop?:yQuote:
Originally Posted by welshwarrior
^ You wish! :roflmao
My TM Latigo strop devolops a similar pattern. If you apply some of the oil Tony gave you with it and rub it in it will fade. I think it is caused by the fact that the leather never is 100% flat. The bits slightly raised start to wear first and the Latigo dye and other finishing substances come off.
This uneven surface is why the process of breaking in strops was invented. I have yet to receive a strop that didn't require some breaking in to become uniformly flat.
PuFF
As mentioned no strop will be 100% flat without one of the rubbing, pressing, pumicing break in treatments. Most/many will be close....very usable close as received, no matter who the maker is.
I strive for very close and do a semi-breaking in so each is very usable upon receipt but I know guys like Puffah, etc... have their own process that is very labor inensive but takes them the final mile.
I had offered Welshwarrior a replacement a while back but he says he is a bit attached to this one and wants to give it a go. My offer always stands if he changes his mind.
Thanks,
Tony
Tony,
Only one strop from you out of the 6 or so pieces of leather you supplied has needed real breaking in. As you know, I am fussy to the point of being anal about it :) A small going over the latigo with fine paper will sort those high spots very quickly if you need to bother at all.
PuFF
Those patterns are the places where the razor touches the strop. By the look of it, looks like you are not conditioning your strop with you're palm, as suggested by Thierres Issard (daily rub with the palm, pre-stropping). My DOVO strop also develops these streaks, but they look darker than the strop surface, because it accumulates dirt from the palm oils. My Heirloom No.1 Latigo is less streaked, mailny because of the different tanning process...
No surface is idealy flat, let alone a razor's edge, and a leather strop.
Nenad
Just got back from a weeks hols.
Ima gonna stick with this strop as general consensus is that it is natural and doesn't effect the honing. Thanks for the offer, Tony, but as I say I feel kinda loyal to this and it wouldn't really be fair to swap it as I have put some nicks into it as well by over-zealous flipping of the blade.
Thanks for all the input, gents.