Thread: New strop is uneven.

That s-shape is your problem, I guess.
Make it wet once more, stretch it and nail it onto a board.
Wait until its completely dry, then take it off.

I live in hopes that one day my strops will just do what they are supposed to and I will be able to just strop and shave each day and enjoy this old art instead feeling like a child in PhD class.

It's good to have dreams, they say.

Originally Posted by 0livia

That s-shape is your problem, I guess.
Make it wet once more, stretch it and nail it onto a board.
Wait until its completely dry, then take it off.

I picked up a vintage strop a few months ago on ebay to harvest the linen, but found the vintage leather to be very nice and effective once cleaned and conditioned. Trouble was, it sagged on one side in the mid portion. I'd about given up on using it.

Thanks for the tip, Olivia. It's now hanging nice and straight in my bathroom.

My pleasure, Ray!

When skins are processed they are treated like that.
Since the have stronger and weaker spots, they will stretch differently.
When they will be released before they are completely dry, the texture did not break and as soon as they are getting humid again, they remember and return to original shape. You can keep that at bay with a cutting in a clever direction (crossing the back line) but for a bigger number of strops most manufacturers probably won't. So you just have to nail them again.