Thread: Disappointment with DOVO strop

Once again I say"Get some Ballistol" It works well on strops!

Slawman

I ended up going the Kanayama route, and glad I did. As for the 'Juchten' Russian 'type' single sided 80mm wide strop. I got an orbital sander with 160grit paper, through to 1200 and now I have a lovely suede strop. You can spray cbn or dia spray if you want, but at the end of the day, it's a very ordinary strop.

Originally Posted by bobski

I have a number of good strops. I agree with diedok, I bought the 3 inch dovo russian strop, no linen side. It never felt right, and I eventually put leather conditioner onto it, which improved it, but still, with no line side, and cupping, it's one of the most expensive I've owned, and easily the worst. My favorite is the Classic Shaving 'Mountain Strop' in black latigo. It has a positive, smooth even draw. Thrives on a bit of natural 'Forehead' oil, rubbed before each stropping. I rarely use anything else, and it has a terrific genuine linen, separated side.

On your different strop do you get a different finished edge?

First thing I would do is clean all the conditioner with wax in it off with some liquid glycerin. Scrub the heck out of it with a cloth like terry towel. I have heard guys say they get liquid glycerin at the drug store and that maybe okay but I get mine at a tack store and it has conditioners in it but, not wax. Same with saddle soap. They make it with wax and without. My point is the wax. Rub your finger on a candle or apply wax to your car and see how smooth it is :<0) You can also burnish leather to make it smoother. I use a nice smooth piece of SS pipe but a wine bottle will do. It's basically rubbing the surface until it's smooth. Lots of hard rubbing on something very hard and flat. Kind of like the old belt got after years of rubbing on everything you sat in. Some leather is naturally smoother than others but they can all be made slick by burnishing. This can also be done on a lath with rosewood spinning in the chuck.

+1 on burnishing (beer bottle in my case )