Thread: Leather Advice

This is sort of the opposite of ChrisL's thread on leather types.

I have an antique (or perhaps vintage) silver plate retractable strop that I would like to be able to use again. Unfortunately it's not just a simple matter of trying to recondition the leather, as in its current shape the leather has a few bad cuts and nicks in rather unfortunate places. If I ever want to use it again I'll need to replace the leather.

So, the leather I guess needs to be thin enough to roll up into the casing when retracted. But it also needs to be thick enough to provide adequate stropping when extended. And I don't know what this relates to (perhaps suppleness or quality of the leather) but because it will spend most of its time rolled up, it needs to be able to withstand creasing too.

Anyway, I'll probably take it to a leathersmith (is that the word?) to get their opinion, but I was hoping people may have some ideas beforehand regarding the best-suited leather for this purpose that I could put to the leather guy.

Here are a couple of pictures of the item in question - the strop extends out a lot further (probably 3 times further) than the second picture shows. That was as far as I could get it to come out before it wanted to retract....

Thanks for any help or info.





James.

No advice but I want to keep this bumped so Tony gets a look at it, hopefully he has one like it or has seen something similar and can help you out.

Thats a pretty cool device and very pretty as well.

One thing I see though, it looks like the edges of the leather are getting hung up on something, perhaps the edge of the case as it retracts? if tere is a burr there or anything it will tear the heck out of your new leather and cause the edge wear you see on this one.

Originally Posted by Wildtim

No advice but I want to keep this bumped so Tony gets a look at it, hopefully he has one like it or has seen something similar and can help you out.

Thats a pretty cool device and very pretty as well.

One thing I see though, it looks like the edges of the leather are getting hung up on something, perhaps the edge of the case as it retracts? if tere is a burr there or anything it will tear the heck out of your new leather and cause the edge wear you see on this one.

That's a good thought! I pulled out the entire length - those cuts along the right-hand edge are only on that bottom area, and only along the right hand edge - so they may just be the remains of a right-handed stropper's stuff-ups when flipping at the bottom of their stroke.

You know, on closer inspection a bit of pumicing or sandpapering, and some strop conditioner may just get this back into some sort of usable shape, at least for some parts of it. And maybe some contact cement or glue or whatever on the other parts.....

Thanks Wildtim! I know what I'll be doing this afternoon

James.

Hopefully you will be able to cleanup and save what you have. I have never seen one but it looks like a job to replace the leather.

If you need to replace the leather this is my best guess
The handle end probably has rivets holding it on the leather, and the other end , my guess would be like restringing a lawnmower pull start handle. That is once you get inside the case. For the size of leather use a set of calipers and measure the thickness of the leather, you can use the chart here to convert that to ounces Leather Weight and Thickness Conversions. Then find a supplier of horsehide that has that weight of leather. Tony may know of one. I haven't seen much horsehide around.

Good luck and let us know how it comes out

Bob

I hope you get that up and running! post lots of pics, it would look fantastic with new leather and a good shine

Beautiful Hardware you have there,if you replace the leather i wouldnt roll it up as it would tend to make the leather have a memory of the rolled up shape,id take the spring or whatever is in there out and display it proudly

Thanks for all the tips guys.

Well, after a bit of work it seems my initial impression was a bit pessimistic. Yes, the leather is old and yes, there are a few places where the cuts run a little deep, but I think I have it in good enough shape to be of use now. Seems to work fairly well on the few razors I've tested with it, anyway.

So, for the moment I think I'll leave well enough alone. A few more applications of leather conditioner and I think it should work out well.

James.