Thread: Help, save a strop!!

Was it a Dovo Xtra wide strop then? Bummer on the experience you had.

Once it's dry, you could try rubbing 220 grit or even 400 grit sandpaper over a flat block back and forth lightly on the strop surface. You have nothing to lose at this point.

For whatever strop you do get to replace this one, don't apply chromium oxide to the strop you're going to use for daily pre-shave stropping. Especially for a hanging strop. Chromium Oxide is an amazing animal in its effectiveness at polishing steel. So much so, that stropping on chrome daily is not only unnecessary, it very easily could be detrimental to your edge. Even the small amount of slack inherent in hanging strops can round your edge if you aren't careful when stropping on a chrome ox hanging strop.

Chrome ox should be used to refresh rather than as a daily regimen.

Chris L

I was thinking the exact same thing with the sandpaper but wait for it to dry and see what it looks like.

Originally Posted by Chris L

Was it a Dovo Xtra wide strop then? Bummer on the experience you had.

Once it's dry, you could try rubbing 220 grit or even 400 grit sandpaper over a flat block back and forth lightly on the strop surface. You have nothing to lose at this point.

For whatever strop you do get to replace this one, don't apply chromium oxide to the strop you're going to use for daily pre-shave stropping. Especially for a hanging strop. Chromium Oxide is an amazing animal in its effectiveness at polishing steel. So much so, that stropping on chrome daily is not only unnecessary, it very easily could be detrimental to your edge. Even the small amount of slack inherent in hanging strops can round your edge if you aren't careful when stropping on a chrome ox hanging strop.

Chrome ox should be used to refresh rather than as a daily regimen.

Chris L

Yeah, I was only hitting the CrOx every two or three days for less than 10 laps. I went to Tandy to see what could be done (I tried some sanding this morning) and ended up with a new piece of 3"w leather, rivets and the riveting tool, all for 45 and some change. I drilled the old rivets out, cut the leather holding the ring and the handle to the strop off, contact cemented them to the new leather, tapped new holes, and riveted. YAY! NEW STROP! I left it a little longer than the original, too, just for personal preference. It looks a little like Frankenstein's monster, but it works. Yes, it was a Dovo. I guess now it's a Faux-vo???

Originally Posted by maplemaker

Yeah, I was only hitting the CrOx every two or three days for less than 10 laps. I went to Tandy to see what could be done (I tried some sanding this morning) and ended up with a new piece of 3"w leather, rivets and the riveting tool, all for 45 and some change. I drilled the old rivets out, cut the leather holding the ring and the handle to the strop off, contact cemented them to the new leather, tapped new holes, and riveted. YAY! NEW STROP! I left it a little longer than the original, too, just for personal preference. It looks a little like Frankenstein's monster, but it works. Yes, it was a Dovo. I guess now it's a Faux-lo???

Good job. It's fun to make your own strop for the experience. I've made a handful in both cowhide and horsehide myself and will be putting them up for sale in the classifieds soon. The key and the difficulty in making a good strop is the finish and/or quality of the surface.

Chris L

Originally Posted by Chris L

Good job. It's fun to make your own strop for the experience. I've made a handful in both cowhide and horsehide myself and will be putting them up for sale in the classifieds soon. The key and the difficulty in making a good strop is the finish and/or quality of the surface.

Chris L

Yeah, and this is clean, smooth, and flat. I asked if they had leather that would work for a strap, and they said they used to sell full straps, just not anymore, but they do still carry the leather to make the strap, and that's what I picked up. It was on sale and I got enough on the length of leather they sell to make two straps. I would have done that, but I only have one set of a swivel/handle.

I've had strops that had bad creases in them and what I did was totally saturate the leather in warm water and then let it slowly dry by itself and the crease came out by itself.