Thread: Curled leather

Hi,

upon close inspection, I discovered that the sides of my paddle strop are a bit curled. As a result, my razor does not lie completely flat against the leather, but is carried on the edges of the strop.

Is there anything I can do to fix this, short of cutting it loose and glueing it on a thick piece of glass or ceramic tile?

You may try just pressing down the edges with a hard object. Just wait for Tony to chime in and confirm lol.

Bruno,
You have a couple of options. First, if it's one of mine you already know what to do.....ask for a replacement!

If not try to see if it is the leather that is curled or the wood itself. if the wood your only choice is to start over. It's hard to say whether the leather will come off at all or would even be usable if it does come off. Depending on the brand some of these are really glued on tight.

If it is only the leather you could try burnishing the edges to press them down of even light sanding to level them. Wide flat paddles can have either problem, curling leather or curling wood. Narrow paddles are more likely curling leather as the narrow pieces are unlikely to warp.

I have changed my wide paddles from 2 1/2" to 3" and started using MDF instead of wood as I doubt any wood will remain flat enough over time once you go past 2 to 2 1/2" in width.

If the leather will come off gluing to a glass or ceramic surface would work but the leather itself can still curl. Do remember that natural surfaces (other than stone) are always liable to more with changes in humidity and temperature.

Let us know how you get on.

Tony

Originally Posted by Tony Miller

Bruno,
You have a couple of options. First, if it's one of mine you already know what to do.....ask for a replacement!

If not try to see if it is the leather that is curled or the wood itself. if the wood your only choice is to start over. It's hard to say whether the leather will come off at all or would even be usable if it does come off. Depending on the brand some of these are really glued on tight.

If it is only the leather you could try burnishing the edges to press them down of even light sanding to level them. Wide flat paddles can have either problem, curling leather or curling wood. Narrow paddles are more likely curling leather as the narrow pieces are unlikely to warp.

I have changed my wide paddles from 2 1/2" to 3" and started using MDF instead of wood as I doubt any wood will remain flat enough over time once you go past 2 to 2 1/2" in width.

If the leather will come off gluing to a glass or ceramic surface would work but the leather itself can still curl. Do remember that natural surfaces (other than stone) are always liable to more with changes in humidity and temperature.

Let us know how you get on.

Tony

It is not one of yours. It is also not mounted on wood. It is mounted on a metal frame with a handle that allows you to stretch it more or less taut.
it looks like this one:
http://www.knifecenter.com/kc_new/st...ail.html?s=J42

Pressing down the edges might work.
Sadly, this makes the effective length even shorter, but since this is a non-destructive solution, I'll try that first.

I had a similar prob with mine and found it was the stretcher plates not having straight edges. I dissasembled it and filed them flat. Also make sure you have enough tension. Mine got better after this but came real good after I wet lathered the strop and re stretched it to dry.

PuFF

It looks like you have a loom type strop. I have got an antique one that belonged to an uncle of my mother's. Apparenly the edges do curl up if you do not relax the leather after use.

When I had this problem I disassembled the thing, put the leather on a flat surface, took coarse sand paper that I wrapped around a straight piece of wood and I sanded the leather. The leather is still not perfeclty flat but it does the job again.

I've had a few older ones of this type as well as the Jemico version. On all that I had the leather tended to curl downwards on the edges leaving the center high. While not idea this is the lesser of the two evils since in this case the weight of the razor flattens it in use.

Maybe wetting and stretching would help. One should always remove the tension from these when not in use.

Tony

Yeh, I should have said leave it relaxed after use Another point, don't wet the prepared side or you'll lose the paste.

PuFF

Originally Posted by Tony Miller

I've had a few older ones of this type as well as the Jemico version. On all that I had the leather tended to curl downwards on the edges leaving the center high. While not idea this is the lesser of the two evils since in this case the weight of the razor flattens it in use.

Maybe wetting and stretching would help. One should always remove the tension from these when not in use.

Tony

Damnit.
Nobody told me. I'll see if I can undo the damage.

Thanks all.
If that doesn't help, I think I'll make the jump and order a new one from you Tony.