Thread: Kanayama/Kanoyama Strop Edited

I'm in the process as we speak of replacing the suede component on my Kanayama #3 with natural linen.
I have no troubles with the efficacy of the suede, but as Obie states, I dislike the draw .. Purely a personal decision. Once the linen is in place, I expect to like the strop much better.

I have a Kanayama with the suede component and a Tony Miller with the natural linen, I use them both regularly and in my opinion the results are similar

I'm not so sure it's linen. It doesn't seem like it to me and as I recall when they were first being sold that question came up and the maker said it was the closest thing he could source in Japan.

When I got my #3 many years ago it was a really thick substantial material. When I got my 90K it was much thinner. For linen I use the linen strop that came with my Red Imp. It's the best linen strop I've ever seen.

When I had mine (I eventually sold it), I understood the suede to be a transition strop to protect the cordovan finish leather. I didn't have use for it. I'd have conditioned the linen that came with mine had I needed to, but like TBS, I have a couple of vintage linens that are treated with something non-abrasive, but definitely treated with something, that are better than any linen/canvas/felt i've seen anywhere else. I'd like to see some of the current strop makers reverse-engineer it.

So that means I ultimately only used the fine leather on the kanayama. I clean my razors off with one stroke through a towel after shaving, and with a tshirt after the linen (since whatever it is treated with comes off in very small amounts on the bevel and spine of a razor).

I don't know what's on TBS's red imp, but It seems like a lot of the older high quality strops have a linen that looks like the old "silk finish" linen - white and treated with something. It's too bad most of them are dirty or polluted with abrasives by now.

The red imp is not treated with anything. It has a stiffener of some kind between the two layers. Most linen has a chalk like material which acts like the stiffener and adds some abrasive to it. I periodically scrub my linen with detergent and a brush and it comes out looking like brand new. It has a very pale beige color to it.

Originally Posted by DaveW

I don't know what's on TBS's red imp, but It seems like a lot of the older high quality strops have a linen that looks like the old "silk finish" linen - white and treated with something. It's too bad most of them are dirty or polluted with abrasives by now.

Yeah, I have a couple of those myself.
My old C-Mon Cordovan for one came with that white "silk finish" linen.
Works great!

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

The red imp is not treated with anything. It has a stiffener of some kind between the two layers. Most linen has a chalk like material which acts like the stiffener and adds some abrasive to it. I periodically scrub my linen with detergent and a brush and it comes out looking like brand new. It has a very pale beige color to it.

Stiff is what I'd say is the effect on the silk finish linen. It's so stiff that you'd expect by the feel and sound that it might dull the razor. I don't think (But don't know) that there's anything remotely abrasive in the silk finish linen I have, just a hard waxy feeling stiffener. Does anything at all come off of the linen on the red imp and stay on the razor? Just the tiniest slight bit of hard waxy residue on the bevel and spine comes off of the silk finish, no appreciable black on the linen after two years of use.

I can imagine the linens would've varied from supplier to supplier.

The silk finish I use looks like this:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...p-strop-2.html

but whiter...the one I got was still in the paper from the 1940s or so, though - unused, and the strop it came on (illinois 361 horse butt) was also unused, but I didn't find a lot of favor with it because I don't think the surface treatment on the strop aged that well, and I have another horse butt strop already broken in. The two could've been put together by an ebay seller who found boxes of parts, too.

At any rate, it would be nice if the modern makers of strops would reverse-engineer it. There are a couple of patents for strop treatments out there, but no guarantee that they have anything to do with the substance in my strop. IIRC, they are abrasive-free, but one of them did include creosote.

Wonder if your linen started off white and oxidized?

I believe the old "Silk Finish" linen were manufactured using actual linen (flax), as opposed to cotton. Hard to find these days. Unless anybody wants to reopen some of the old mills in Belfast?

After soaking my linen/canvas component of my Kanayama for 40ish mins as suggested by Birnando I let it dry overnight and stropped on it tonight. I must say I really like the feel of it now, not so much like cardboard! Unsure as to weather it has effected the abrasiveness of it? Will start using more often no doubt.
Still much prefer the suede component though...

My Red Imp came brand spanking new old stock in the box and sealed. It was never stiff and chalky and the first time I washed it the usual white stuff didn't come out. It just a soft piece of material like a sock with a stiffener material in between the two sides. With the stiffener it at first glance seems like the usual stuff but once you use it you realize the actual fabric isn't stiff.

However they did it, it's the best linen strop I've ever used.