Originally Posted by
DaveW
I'll offer a differing opinion. I wouldn't do anything to the leather if it's clean and smooth. Here's what I would do. I would clamp it to something (where the hardware would be) or fit it to something and for a couple of weeks, I would strop a razor on it 50 strokes each day - a different one that I was shaving with. A couple of weeks or a month of that will tell you what direction it's going. Once the surface is broken in a little bit, then you can try a strop on it with your razor.
Leave it hanging vertically so that it's not collecting any dust (which would throw off your perception) when you're not conditioning it.
I have never been a fan of overtreating leather for strops, you never know if you're helping the strop and change should be incremental if you make it, and not drastic.
IF you do that and it doesn't work out, then you can use a marking knife or some stout sharp knife against a straight edge and cut it and glue it smooth side up to a board. Personally, I prefer an even layer of liquid hide glue and significant clamping pressure where the leather is glued to a board and another is clamped right on top of it to distribute the force of the clamps. I've done that with horse butt and veg tanned cowhide and both have turned out great.
And to my point about not treating yet, my best strop is a piece of smooth horse butt about 2 feet long. It was rough at first (silica or whatever in the horse butt strips) but has settled in to a sheen that is near reflective and that does a great job. I used the same routine as I mentioned above. It has been my daily strop now for two years, and is better performing than any purchased strop I've had, despite the fact that it has never been treated with anything.