Thread: U bend in strop

Hello guys,

I have received a 3" red latigo strop from Premier Strop Co (looks like the SRD one?) and it has a slight U shape. The middle of the strop dips almost all the lenght...

Is this something I should worry about? Will it go away by itself or will it come flat when I stop my razors on it with some light pressure? Or does it have to be broken in?

Thanks!

JF

Well your blade won't touch the strop in the middle, so it has to go.
Best method I've found so far, is bending it into the other direction by hand.

Will it stay flat after I do it or will I have to do this every time before stropping?

Mine stayed bent into the other direction first, then worked itself in to straight somehow and its still straight now.
I guess you'll notice when it does not obey and bend it into submission

Thanks Olivia!

I bent is slightly in the other direction, then gave it a good hand rub for 10 minutes. I'll keep an eye on it...

Pleasure!

If that doesn't work in order of increasing effort you can try using an old fashioned rolling pin or a glass bottle and roll it or you can tie a weight to the strop (at least 5lbs) and let it hang a few weeks.

If its real minor those may work. The nuclear option which always works is to soak the strop in water and then allow it to dry by itself VERY slowly however you are usually left with black areas on the strop which don't affect the strop in any way, its just a cosmetic thing.

Thanks for the info!

I just got this strop and another as well, an Illinois Strop 827. I gotta say that the latigo one is much more stiff than the russian leather. It seems to be flatter now...

I had a similar issue with a Russian leather strop made by Illinois. I found the problem not to be in the leather itself, but rather how it had been fastened into the hardware. Before you start soaking the leather, I'd first try the simple solution of removing all the metal hardware, then re-attaching it, while making certain to keep everything straight and taut. For me, this worked like a charm.

I read an old way of getting a strop flat was to wrap it in towels (I don't know if they had to be damp,wet or dry) and place a very heavy object on the stop to flatten it overnight. I can't see how this would work very well without some moisture