Thread: Replace leather in Retractable razor strop

Hi Guys
Some time ago I managed to buy a retractable razor strop with the mechanism in good order, but the leather is in need of replacement. I also note the leather is quite thin on these. The unit itself may be silver plated but has some signs of wear, so that thought may be wrong. I will almost certainly want to get it plated in Nickel or maybe silver depends on cost.

Some questions for the more experienced members here.
Would a piece of Roo hide do the trick here or would it tend to stretch too much?

Has anybody had experience replacing the leather in one of these?
I think it has to be opened up, just not too sure about how to do it and don't want to damage it.
Any thoughts or tips appreciated. Thanks in advance.

A search of older posts to find how to replace the leather came up with zip.

My guess is that the mechanism will work best if the leather is of a similar thickness and suppleness as the original leather.

I agree with less. It should be same thickness and flexibility in order to retract into holder completely. Thicker leather will take up More room and may not retract fully. If you have no way to thin out and soften the leather, I would try to find a leather crafting store. They may be able to help with the proper leather.

Thanks to Kees and Bouchie for your input gents.
I thought of Roo leather is already quite thin compared to most leather used for stropping.
I thought it may be a good starting point in my quest.

Found out an old school barber lives not far from here.
He is semi-retired now and still owns a Barber shop in the local area.
I am hoping to get a chance to meet up with him and pick his brain a little.
At least it's worth a go

From a great leather worker I found that if you see-saw a piece of strop leather, with pulling pressure, back and forth around a table leg or similar fixed cylinder you can increase the flexibility greatly. I also use it to keep my seldom used strops supple. I bend them around the edge of a counter top when i do it.
Obviously if the strop is dry it must, first, be slowly brought back to life with judicious use of oils.
~Richard
PS, The leather in my window shade strop was terribly oily. The unit came apart with removal of one screw at the end of the unit. The mechanism is like a spring roller window shade. Yes, that means a spring under tension and it can bite.
I would suggest going to a local hardware store and interesting the shop guy in your machine! They can give you a lot of information if they are not terribly busy.

Good pictures of the interior of one on the 'bay:
Vintage-Antique-Victorian-sterling-silver-ornate-barber-sharpening-leather-strop

Can you post some pictures of the strop? I would like to see what yours looks like!

Originally Posted by Geezer

From a great leather worker I found that if you see-saw a piece of strop leather, with pulling pressure, back and forth around a table leg or similar fixed cylinder you can increase the flexibility greatly. I also use it to keep my seldom used strops supple. I bend them around the edge of a counter top when i do it.
Obviously if the strop is dry it must, first, be slowly brought back to life with judicious use of oils.
~Richard
PS, The leather in my window shade strop was terribly oily. The unit came apart with removal of one screw at the end of the unit. The mechanism is like a spring roller window shade. Yes, that means a spring under tension and it can bite.
I would suggest going to a local hardware store and interesting the shop guy in your machine! They can give you a lot of information if they are not terribly busy.

Great information and tip Geezer. I will try the local Hardware guys in the next couple of days. Also appreciate the ebay listing showing inside the Retractable Strop.
Thanks mate

A couple thoughts:
You may be able to separate the pieces of the container by squeezing the barrel together at one end toward the slot, It may be a rim on the inner piece.
If you have an old time shoe shop nearby, you may be able to buy skived leather that is thin enough. Shoe "Tongue" leather comes to mine. "Roo" should do well!
Enjoy the journey!
~Richard

Good news on the strop, partial success with opening it up I found the old barber gent in my area and as he was able to point me in the right direction on how to open the strop.

It is a screw together system with a spring set up as shown in the ebay pics in post 6 - Thank you Geezer for the link.

The mechanism was tight as it had never been opened that I was aware of. So to free it up, I I had to pull the strop out nearly all the way and put some graphite powder in each end the mechanism to help loosen it up. Worked the strop in and out several times until it started to move quite freely.
Then it was a matter of holding the barrel portion in one hand and carefully unscrew the end that would move using adjustable vice grips. The other end looks like it will not unscrew.
Now it's a case of inspect the rest f the mechanism and see if it will all come apart so i can replace the leather strop piece.
After that I will need to find someone to do a replating job. The original was Silver plate, I think (could be expensive). The alternative is nickel plate or maybe a different plate like copper. Again cost will determine the route taken here.
Are there any members who do this work