Thread: pumice stone on a hanging strop

ive nicked up my strop a bit in use. Mostly at where i end my stroke by flipping the razor over before completing the stroke. I bought a pumcie stone at walgreens the other day to use to smooth out the nicks but have a few questions i would like answered before trying it.
do i simply dip the pumics stone in water and then abrade the area on the strop i want to smooth?
when i run my fingers across the pumice stone i tend to pick up some grit. I definately do not want that in the strop. therefore, how to you insure that no grit remains in the strop?
how do others use the stone to smooth a nicked strop?

I don't know if this will help. I haven't used a stone yet. But I asked John Miller about the knicks I put in mine. He said to take them out with a razor blade above the nick. I would guess you would use the stone and then clean it with GOJO or something similar from what I have read.

Here's what worked for me:
1) Remove the nicks with LIGHT pumice rubbing. The lighter it is, the less material it sheds.
2) Brush it off with a dry paper towel, again light pressure and I am using the word "brush" instead of "wipe" on purpose.
3) Wipe it off with a moist paper towel.
4) Wipe off the moisture with the dry paper towel and let dry completely.
5) Apply a very small amount of a strop dressing or mink oil to the repaired region, rub it in and leave it to soak in for a while (30min is ok)
6) Evenly distribute the strop dressing over the whole strop (again, don't use too much, just enough for it to gets soaked in)
7) Voila

The pumice stone will work well at smoothing out minor nicks. Just wet the stone and rub with varying pressure over the nick untill it's smoothed out.

If it's a deep nick or even a gouge, start off with wet/dry sandpaper, coarse through fine, and finish with the stone.
My nicks usually occur at the edge of the strop and I bevel that area to blend with the edge.
As far as leaving grit in the strop, I wipe off the strop well between grits and after the stone. Finally treat with strop dressing. (never had a problem with grit getting embedded in my strop, so I think you'll be fine).

If the pumice is giving off residue even after rinsing it, it could be a problem with the stone.

Shaving the nick out with a razor could work too, but you need to be careful you don't slip up and make it worse. You'd still want to finish as described above, though, to smooth out the damaged area.

My 2 cents,

Scott

I use a pumice stone dry to get the nicks out of my strop. There don't seem to be any ill effects, and I'm not really gentle when I do this. I rub the stone pretty well into the leather until the nicked piece of leather comes off. I don't use water because I don't want to wet the leater. After I rub with the stone, I use an old sock and rub really well to get any pumice stone out, then I apply a little strop dressing, and let it sit for 5-10 minutes, then rub with an old sock again. This works well for me.

E

I also use it dry. However instead of the strop dressing, I use mink oil now (for regular maintenence). The dressing just stinks. In any case, I've been a good boy these days, so this topic is purely academic for me lol.

Is the pumice stone the same stone you would find in the "beauty" section of most stores? I have one for reducing calluses on my feet. Is this the same type of pumice stone, or is there another one?

Randy

Originally Posted by rtaylor61

Is the pumice stone the same stone you would find in the "beauty" section of most stores? I have one for reducing calluses on my feet. Is this the same type of pumice stone, or is there another one?

Randy

I think they are the same. This is what mine looks like. Flat edge is good.

X

Originally Posted by xman

I think they are the same. This is what mine looks like. Flat edge is good.

X

I have te same one and have used it to fix a nick I had in my strop.

as far as pumice stones go, i've found some real crappers that leave a lot more grit on the strop (obviously no good). the more pourous looking stones seem to perform better.

i think the classicshaving.com "how to" section mentions using lather on the strop. been using my ole $5 boar brush to work up some lather on the strop before hitting it with the stone. and then following up with two passes of lather/dry paper towel wipe-down to get the grit out. seems to work well for maintaining the strop and getting the occasional nicks out of the surface.

jake
taipei, taiwan