Strop Restoration - Martin J Rubin
I won this strop on the bay this week for a very reasonable price. The seller had no knowledge of shaving equipment and documented all of the damage on the strop in the sales ad, which I found admirable by them. The only problem is, since they knew nothing of strops, they said the "backside" of the strop had a cut in it, but the strop, to my knowledge, was in the holder backwards and the gouge is on the front printed side. (The printed side "feels" like it should be the the stropping side and to my knowledge the side with the manufacturing info is "generally" always the stropping side.) The linen is in great shape and the leather, though dry like most all vintage strops, seems to be in good condition, just needing some serious moisturizing.
Would you recommend sanding the entire stropping side, or just the area where the gouge is? I am planning on cleaning with some saddle soap, but I will be more careful with this strop. The last one I did was so gunky and nicotine stained, I obliterated the "Clydesdale" and "Certifyed" logos with zealous scrubbing. Attached are some photos. Thank you in advance for the help and recommendations.
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h7...ps89la5toj.jpg
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h7...ps3krvwang.jpg
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h7...psyuwfwuil.jpg
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h7...psdriskdrb.jpg