wrinkles in strop

There's a small patch of wrinkles on my strop that happened as a result of shipping from the vendor. I spoke with the vendor about it and he sent me a replacement piece of leather for my strop. The replacement came in the mail today and is in even worse shape with not only more smaller wrinkles but a bunch of larger waves throughout the length of the strop...the edges are kind of beat up in some places as well.

Is there anything that I can do to smooth the wrinkles and waves out so that I have a smooth stropping surface?
What should I do? I'd really prefer not to email Larry back and tell him that there's a problem with the replacement that he sent me...
What do you guys recommend?

From the sound of it, I would not put my razors on that strop.
Honestly, that is pretty much the most important factor of any strop.
Any chance you could post a pic or two of it?

Don't know about the little wrinkles but with the "waves" have you tried any standard break in techniques to smooth it out? Kinda just shooting in the dark here with out any pictures..

The surface grain got stretched from being bent too much.
I don't know of a way to bring it back to what it was, but there are some things you can do to make it usable:

You can sand the surface down. It doesn't take much; start with about 200 grit and work up. Starting with a lower grit will leave scratches that will be very difficult to get out.

You could also oil the surface and burnish it. Put some neetsfoot oil on the surface of the strop and pull it back and forth over the edge of your car window several times. Use some pressure.
I don't have a pic, but I'll try to explain a little better:
Open the car door and roll the window down a little over half way. Oil the surface of the strop and then hang the strop over the edge of the glass with the stropping surface against the edge of the glass. Now grab both ends of the strop and pull down fairly hard while you run it back and forth over the glass. I've done a lot of experimenting, and this is the best method, using stuff that most people have available, I've found for smoothing out strop surfaces.

This is spot on the strop when I first got it.

Attachment 141011

Here are some pics of the replacement piece. I tried to capture the spots as best I could. It came rolled smooth side out.

Attachment 141012Attachment 141013Attachment 141014Attachment 141015

The second one wasn't damaged by being rolled improperly. I'd send that one back.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HNSB

The second one wasn't damaged by being rolled improperly. I'd send that one back.

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Is it that badly damaged?

It will take a fair amount of time to fix and you'll lose the top surface.
With sanding and burnishing you can get a decent surface on it, but it won't quite be the same as the surface from the tannery.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HNSB

It will take a fair amount of time to fix and you'll lose the top surface.
With sanding and burnishing you can get a decent surface on it, but it won't quite be the same as the surface from the tannery.

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I'll have to email Larry and see what he says.

It won't do you any good with this particular strop, but you should realize that for what you pay Larry, he can only sell you this kind of stuff. For now, the best thing to do imo is to toss it, and buy a product from a vendor, any vendor, who sells decent strops at a realistic price.

Any strop for that amount of money will never be better than what you show in the pics. A simple strip of decent leather alone will be more expensive than what you paid for that strop.

You need to train him so he knows what level of product quality his customers will accept. If enough of his customers complain he'll either improve the product, raise the price and quality and/or stop the product line.

This was the Rich man strop that I paid almost $70 for...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kwlfca

This was the Rich man strop that I paid almost $70 for...

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:dropjaw:

In that case complain loudly, because for 70$ you should have gotten a very good, high qulity strop instead of 'this'.

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Originally Posted by Bruno

:dropjaw:

In that case complain loudly, because for 70$ you should have gotten a very good, high qulity strop instead of 'this'.

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Gotta agree..there's many strops you could get for close to the same price that would be blemish free.

Larry emailed back:

"I will refund your money for the replacement piece of leather. I will send you a replacement piece, but package it myself instead of hand it off to someone who works for me. I will package it FLAT to ensure there is no chance of wrinkling.

I am on travel until next Monday. But, I will refund the money for the replacement strop right away and will include a few extra dollars. I will refund as soon as you say the above is acceptable.

My apology for the problems.

Let me know.

Thanks,
Larry"

What do you guys think?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kwlfca

Larry emailed back:

"I will refund your money for the replacement piece of leather...

What do you guys think?

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I think that's what any responsible vendor should do.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kwlfca

Larry emailed back:

"I will refund your money for the replacement piece of leather. I will send you a replacement piece, but package it myself instead of hand it off to someone who works for me. I will package it FLAT to ensure there is no chance of wrinkling.

I am on travel until next Monday. But, I will refund the money for the replacement strop right away and will include a few extra dollars. I will refund as soon as you say the above is acceptable.

My apology for the problems.

Let me know.

Thanks,
Larry"

What do you guys think?

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So you get a refund and a new piece of leather too? I reckon you haven't got too much to complain about.

Hopefully it comes undamaged...it's nice enough lather when it isn't damaged.

Cut the wrinkled part out and glue the pieces that are flat to a piece of plexiglas or wood and paste or chrom-ox it.

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Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Cut the wrinkled part out and glue the pieces that are flat to a piece of plexiglas or wood and paste or chrom-ox it.

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This isn't your first rodeo, is it cowboy?

:roflmao

Hey Partner,

Contact Mr. Miller over at: The Well Shaved Gentleman The Heirloom Razor Strop Company and get yourself a strop that you will be proud of that works and won't break the bank. I have two of his strops and I love them both. Nuff said?

Respectfully

Chasmo

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Originally Posted by MisterMoo

This isn't your first rodeo, is it cowboy?

:roflmao

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Jimmy has been around.

From what I hear a loooong loooong time. ;)


From what I saw in the pics it wasnt damaged leather it was poor quality.

Larry is sending me another replacement leather, but packaging it himself this time to ensure it is packaged correctly.
He offered a refund for the leather and some extra bucks, I asked for one of his brush handles to go with a TGN knot I'm ordering instead of money.
He expressed that he felt that only a brush handle did not make up for my hassle and is sending other freebies (he asked what he could do to make it right and I left it to him).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kwlfca

Larry is sending me another replacement leather, but packaging it himself this time to ensure it is packaged correctly.
He offered a refund for the leather and some extra bucks, I asked for one of his brush handles to go with a TGN knot I'm ordering instead of money.
He expressed that he felt that only a brush handle did not make up for my hassle and is sending other freebies (he asked what he could do to make it right and I left it to him).

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There is no doubt about it, Larry is a good guy.

Respectfully

Chasmo

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kwlfca

This was the Rich man strop that I paid almost $70 for...

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I'm watching your thread closely, as I'm in a similar situation, different vendor. Wish it was Larry.
:popcorn:

I'd ditto responses on Larry here. I found him informative, courteous, responsive, and communicative. I won't hesitate to buy from him again.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Siguy

I'm watching you thread closely, as I'm sure you're watching my thread.

:popcorn:

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I'll post a pic of everything when it comes in later this week.
Larry's sending me one of his DE razors, some blades, some MWF soap (no idea if it's a whole puck or what) and one of his synthetic brushes along with the replacement leather.