Thread: Pumice stone for resurfacing?

Thinking about resurfacing my homemade strop. I read about pumice stones in the wiki. If anyone has done this, what kind of pumice stone did you use? And once you got a consistent surface, you went at it with a glass bottle?

What I'm thinking of doing:

-Pumice it!
-Bottle it! Maybe with some neats foot?
-Once super supple, clean off excess neatsfoot, let it sit and dry up
-Hit it with some williams-lather and wipe it clean when dry

Also thinking about surfacing my linen side. It's just cotton webbing, but I was thinking of hardening it a bit, maybe with some wax or something.

Comments?

I use a pumice stone that I bought at the nearest drugstore. You can find them in the foot-care section.

I've used pumice on strops that I then used just as they were, and I've used it on strops that I treated with neatsfoot oil afterward. Both ways worked well for me, so I suggest you try using the strop after using the pumice but before treating it with the neatsfoot, and if you like the draw, leave it as is. If you don't care for the draw, then you can add the neatsfoot.

Good luck.

As long as the pumice stone is fine, flat and soft it will be OK. You can also use some fine sandpaper too.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

As long as the pumice stone is fine, flat and soft it will be OK. You can also use some fine sandpaper too.

I'm sorry I failed to mention sandpaper in my first response, but I found that sandpaper actually works a little better than pumice because it's more uniform and it's easier to control the finish of the leather's surface by using different grit sandpaper.

Originally Posted by marosell

Thinking about resurfacing my homemade strop. I read about pumice stones in the wiki. If anyone has done this, what kind of pumice stone did you use? And once you got a consistent surface, you went at it with a glass bottle?

What I'm thinking of doing:

-Pumice it!
-Bottle it! Maybe with some neats foot?
-Once super supple, clean off excess neatsfoot, let it sit and dry up
-Hit it with some williams-lather and wipe it clean when dry

Also thinking about surfacing my linen side. It's just cotton webbing, but I was thinking of hardening it a bit, maybe with some wax or something.

Comments?

What is wrong with it?

Saddle soap followed by neats foot oil for baseball gloves much improved
one strop I had.

Once, in a fit of insanity I put too much CrOx on one side
and too much strop dressing and mink oil on the other.
I scraped it down with a copper chore boy kitchen scrubber
then applied a bit of neats foot oil and it is better than it was new.

If you sand it use 'excellent' quality paper that does not leave
grit in the leather. If you pumice it pumice can also leave bits
of grit so work it with a spoon handle or the back of a kitchen knife
to wear out any odd bits before a well polished razor sees it.

I have not used one on on a strop but some paint scrapers are well
sized and might have a place.

Pumice stone is good for the bulk of the work, then I like to finish off with micromesh to smoothen out everything.

niftyshaving: There are a couple places where a drop of water hit it. I tried to wipe it dry ASAP, but there are a few places where it looks "raised" because of a water droplet.

Also, I'm wondering if the lack of draw isn't stropping well. I made it by hand from leather I bought at a Tandy's (probably intended for a belt). Well, it was finished very finely, like sheet-of-glass smooth/shiny, and I'm wondering if something a little rougher would do my razors a bit more good.

I recently honed my razors nice and sharp, but they don't seem to hold their edges well. Every time I shave they pull slightly more, so I thought stropping on my DIY might be the problem. Dunno? Thought I'd try something though.

What grit are you guys thinking on the s-paper?

marosell if you put some neatsfoot oil on a rag or a paper towel and apply it sparingly to your strop it will increase the draw. A little goes a long way. Some guys have good luck just rubbing the strop daily with the palm of the hand. Natural oil from the skin goes in a little at a time.

The sandpaper or pumice stone will take the smooth finish off of the leather and make it a different surface entirely I think. Not necessarily a bad thing but I would try something less drastic first. BTW, the pumic stone I got at the beauty supply is aggressive. Way more than sandpaper in finer grits. As sffone said, I think the paper works better too if you go that route.

JimmyHAD: I've never really felt other strops. Are they all this smooth and shiny? I always imagined them to be.... softer, if that makes sense.

Also, something I'm worried about: If a drop of water makes a spot on the leather swell and be raised, what will putting wet lather on it do?

Originally Posted by marosell

JimmyHAD: I've never really felt other strops. Are they all this smooth and shiny? I always imagined them to be.... softer, if that makes sense.

Also, something I'm worried about: If a drop of water makes a spot on the leather swell and be raised, what will putting wet lather on it do?

The new strops I've gotten from SRD or Tony Miller have been soft, smooth and maybe not shiny but not rough either. I've gotten vintage strops that were a bit stiff and I've did the palm of the hand daily for awhile and they got better.

The old barbers used to put lather on them and rub them down with a bottle. I have never tried that and never will but I heard about it and IIRC read it in a barber manual. I know Tony Miller recommends the hand rubbing and if that still leaves the strop too dry a few drops of neatsfoot or something similar.

As far as that raised spot try rolling it out with a bottle on a flat hard surface. If that doesn't work maybe sand or pumice that one spot. That is what I would do anyway, maybe others will have some more experience with that and chime in.