Thread: My new addition a certifyd 108

As the title suggests I picked up a decent looking Certifyd 108 Russia Shell strop with Irish Linen second on the bay. The linen was quite dirty and the back meeting the strop was stained red from the strop. The strop itself looked ok in the photos just a few marks but when I got it there was a small divit in 1 spot and a small nick in the edge. The linen was soaked for 2 days then scrubbed with a nail brush and resoaked for another week. After this second soaking it was scrubbed again and is as good as I think it will get. This linen is stiff and heavy. Even after a week in water it was stiff enough that you could lean it against something while standing up and it would bow a little but stayed upright. After all the cleaning a while still wet it started with a warm iron going over and over and getting hotter and hotter until it was dry and flat. While the linen was soaking I set to the leather first wiping down with a damp cloth to remove any dirt. I then set about sanding out the scratches and the small divit hole. The hole proved to be deeper than I thought but I got there and once that was done I proceeded up through the grits till at 2000 grit. I then wiped thoroughly with a wet cloth to remove and stray grit and dust. There were a couple patches where there were deeper scratches or the divit so I started to wet it down further and further but slowly over a night to swell the affected areas till it was flattening out then using a big glass Rubbed the snot out of it to flatten it. The next couple of night I did this in small bits and with a light sand or two on areas that showed to need more work. Anyway all done now and I know you love pics so here they are.

As I received it: