Thread: Damaged, nicked, & cut strop repair, salvage, or restoration

I sadly did some *extensive* damage to my nice "Juchten" Russian leather strop yesterday :

I took a gouge across almost half of the width of the strop (maybe 7/8") extending out to a wedge/flap the width of a dime at the edge. (I ran the blade with the edge *leading* down the strop - don't ask how, it's too embarrassing to admit).

The silver lining in the cloud is that this leads to an interesting set of questions:

What is the critical feature of a strop - evenness of the surface as the blade runs across it, fine grain of the surface, or other?
How do you know when a strop is too damaged beyond repair or restoration?
-when is a nick or cut too large?
-how do you repair a strop and what is the end goal required to restore its function?
-should you remove little "flaps" of leather, restore surface smoothness, etc.?
-what if you slice a big flap of leather from the strop that is still attached - should you attempt to glue underneath the flap, or cut it off and sand it down with sandpaper?
-Does sanding down produce "low spots" in the leather surface and how would these affect performance?

Any help and input would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Darren

p.s. Attachment - sanded, oiled nick.

Darren,
We all do it,me included...the "stropmeister" <g>.

If very small would leave it alone and if the razor catches on the flap I would carefully trim off the flap. If larger you could try glueing the flap down with a felixable glue like contact cement or rubber cement.
A few tiny hollows in a strop will not hurt things. Ideally it should be flat and true over it's entire length and width but we are dealing with an organic material that will change daily with humidity and use.

Tony

Thanks Tony - much appreciated.

-Dobrig

Hey Tony!

What would you use to smooth out a slight ridge in the strop where a person had glued it back together? I prefer a non-abrasive scotchbrite pad or a pumice stone over the use of sandpaper. How about you?

As far as small nicks go, particularly on the edge, trim them down if needed and sand them smooth.
I think that, if there's a raised spot from gluing... press it down some way if you can. Lots of weight with a flat surface. You could make a press with plywood and some bolts & wingnuts, or a clamp and some wood or steel plate.
Otherwise... sanding is the way to go. You can't have a speed bump in your strop. If the ridge is close to the end, you could just avoid it.
I'm assuming we're talking about a user here. Even though sanding seems pretty invasive, I don't know of any other way to make it useable. Sand it smooth and then, if it's a kinda glossy strop, use the bottle/glass treatment and strop paste to make it smooth again. I haven't done the bottle treatment, so I'll let someone else expound on that.
Good luck.
Parry

Minor nicks along the edges, for instance, can be dry sanded and will never be a bother .....

Major cuts, if repaired to ABSOLUTE smoothness, will not be a bother ....

But REMEMBER, the final stropping is the the last step before your face. It is an extremely delicate procedure!

If the razor strops OK with repairs, then OK ....

daviduthe

That nick is it .......?

Let me put it this way, I will not show my 1st strop as it is too embarrassing.
Take that nick x 36, add a gash in the side and a hole (2 mm) in the middle.

Now that affects the blade for sure.

If you repair it in any way, just make sure the blade cannot catch any discrepancy. If you take it off sand the edge of the whole thing down to the point where your nail will not "catch" it (if the nail does so will the razor).

Good luck.

Hoekie

Originally Posted by HoekmanX

That nick is it .......?

Let me put it this way, I will not show my 1st strop as it is too embarrassing.
Take that nick x 36, add a gash in the side and a hole (2 mm) in the middle.

Now that affects the blade for sure.

If you repair it in any way, just make sure the blade cannot catch any discrepancy. If you take it off sand the edge of the whole thing down to the point where your nail will not "catch" it (if the nail does so will the razor).

Good luck.

Hoekie

DO NOT THROW THEM AWAY! The undamaged strop areas can be salvaged and made into paste/paddle strops ..... or, just throw them my way!

I didn't.

I said 1st ... who said I have a new one? :-D

Uhm, I use the upper undamaged half for the green paste, and the lower for plain stropping.

In case it does ever get thrown away it will be in a parcel I promise.

For now I need it, lol.

Hoekie

ps: 100 ! :-s

don't feel bad darren I only have a few shaves under my belt and have already put a couple nicks in it