Thread: Vintage shell strops and couple of horse hide

After sanding with wet/dry and applying neats foot oil or Ballistol and allowing time for it to penetrate what do you experienced people
rub in next? I've seen Carnauba wax mentioned, any alternatives? I recently got a very nice but lightly damaged Koken that I have completed
the first two steps on. I don't want to make a miss step at this stage.

Mink oil and a bunch of palm-rubbing for me.
Some may manage the neetsfoot. I seem to always overdo it!

At that point is when I use the screwdriver shaft to soften up and smoothout the leather further. Euclid's rolling pin trick is cool too! Reminds me Naomi-san's indusrial roller.

Originally Posted by Learner

After sanding with wet/dry and applying neats foot oil or Ballistol and allowing time for it to penetrate what do you experienced people
rub in next? I've seen Carnauba wax mentioned, any alternatives? I recently got a very nice but lightly damaged Koken that I have completed
the first two steps on. I don't want to make a miss step at this stage.

Ballistol is all you need!

Slawman

Here’s a little something I picked up recently. A pretty Lassie she is!

It depends on what type of finish and look you are after.

You can with a sharp card scraper, lightly cut a new surface that will leave a napped finish, similar to suede, that will have more draw. You can control the amount of draw by scraping and the amount of oil added.

If you want less drag, you can finish wax with any good shoe wax. You can also add color or use clear natural wax to enhance color but not change it.

Or you can also burnish with a piece of Linen, canvas or fire hose, with or without wax.

On a vintage strop I would start with hydrating with Ballistol, rolling to make the leather flexible and smooth, and burnishing with cloth. You can then adjust the finish, once the oil stabilizes in the leather, it can take months.

If you want to experiment, buy an inexpensive strop or leather belt, Chef Knives to Go sells a nice unfinished leather strop for $19 that is a good platform for finish experimenting. It is also a good beginner’s strop.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

It depends on what type of finish and look you are after.

You can with a sharp card scraper, lightly cut a new surface that will leave a napped finish, similar to suede, that will have more draw. You can control the amount of draw by scraping and the amount of oil added.

If you want less drag, you can finish wax with any good shoe wax. You can also add color or use clear natural wax to enhance color but not change it.

Or you can also burnish with a piece of Linen, canvas or fire hose, with or without wax.

On a vintage strop I would start with hydrating with Ballistol, rolling to make the leather flexible and smooth, and burnishing with cloth. You can then adjust the finish, once the oil stabilizes in the leather, it can take months.

If you want to experiment, buy an inexpensive strop or leather belt, Chef Knives to Go sells a nice unfinished leather strop for $19 that is a good platform for finish experimenting. It is also a good beginner’s strop.

Thank you Euclid440 for those useful tips. I made a shell strop at Rolodave's plus some extra shell leather I can experiment with. I will allow plenty of time on the Koken. It is my second
Koken and I want it to be a top quality strop.

Here is the thick C-mon
Very nice strop!

That's a beautiful C-Mon; I bet it's slick!

It is! It had years of good use. You could tell owner had a good technique, as it had very even wear patterns. I just had to rehydrate a little and loosen the fibers with the screwdriver shaft.
Glad to have it in my collection.