Thread: Strop gripping the blade

Hi,

My Tony Miller latigo strop has served me well for about a year now. Recently it seems to be gripping the blade or the blade is dragging heavily. Even with light pressure it can make the muscles in my arm ache from a stropping, especially a post-honing session! Is this normal or should I do something to lessen this?

I have been periodically treating it with the oil supplied with it.

Would appreciate your insights.

It sounds like it has become over-impregnated with oil. What type of oil is it?

Regards,
Neil.

I'm guessing too much oil. In my included instructions I suggest treating these only when they feel really dry and the best thing is just rubbing with the hands. I stopped supplying the Neat's Foot Oil about a year ago becasue the first question I would get is how much to use!

Less is more with strop treatments. Rubbing with the hands, or if you "must" apply a dressing, apply a little to your hands first and then to the strop so very little is transfered to the leather.

I am guessing the oil is built up on the surface so maybe a saddle soap or "Goop" may be used to remove some of it. I have not tried either of these but am sure someone will come along who has.

Tony

Before doing anything that might alter the surface characteristics of the leather, you might want to try laying it flat on something hard - tabletop or glass, for instance, and putting something very absorbent over it like layers of kitchen towelling, and weighing it down. If its left in a warm place overnight some of the oil might be drawn out into the towelling. We used to do something similar to get the wax resist out of cloth - placing layers of unprinted newsprint paper over it and ironing it with a hot iron - it sucked most of the wax right out. If you try an iron, try it on warm!

Regards,
Neil.

Originally Posted by welshwarrior

Hi,

My Tony Miller latigo strop has served me well for about a year now. Recently it seems to be gripping the blade or the blade is dragging heavily. Even with light pressure it can make the muscles in my arm ache from a stropping, especially a post-honing session! Is this normal or should I do something to lessen this?

I have been periodically treating it with the oil supplied with it.

Would appreciate your insights.

I did this to my paddle strop, which I now call my punching bag, now that I know all the things I did wrong too and with it. I've actually had some luck putting a tiny amount of water on the ham hock pad at the bottom of my thumb and rubing it up and down the leather over and over and then rubbing with a dry rag. But Id try the other methods first.

I bought a very nice old strop from a car boot sale that was over oiled. as you say the leather grips the blade even with the lightest of pressure. I had nothing to loose, so I soaked it in brake cleaner for a very short while at the same time I scrubbed the leather with a Scotch brite pad lightly. After I guessed it was clean and most of the oil dissolved, i took it out of the solution and set it down on a thin towel to dry ( 20 mins at the most).I then left it to hang for a day to be sure full evaporation had taken place.

Before I applied dressing I gauged how much was needed by light stropping of a razor over it. No dressing was needed in this case but I am sure if I left the strop in the fluid for longer, more oils would had dissolved out. As it was the strop was very clean and had the surface draw of a fresh cow hide strop compared to the feel of an over oiled latigo one.

I must point out that this was posted as a point if intrest not for others to copy, unless they like me have no problem with the possible loss of a strop.

PuFf

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

Before doing anything that might alter the surface characteristics of the leather, you might want to try laying it flat on something hard - tabletop or glass, for instance, and putting something very absorbent over it like layers of kitchen towelling, and weighing it down. If its left in a warm place overnight some of the oil might be drawn out into the towelling. We used to do something similar to get the wax resist out of cloth - placing layers of unprinted newsprint paper over it and ironing it with a hot iron - it sucked most of the wax right out. If you try an iron, try it on warm!

Regards,
Neil.

Sounds like a plan. Will give it a try.
thanks all.