Thread: Scratches left from strop

"So next question, how do I bevel the edge of a strop?"

Something like these.

https://www.tandyleather.com/en/craf...ger-83001.html

Originally Posted by 32t

"So next question, how do I bevel the edge of a strop?"

Something like these.

https://www.tandyleather.com/en/craf...ger-83001.html

Yup or if you have a 6inch nail & some tools make your own.

I had member walk me through the process over the phone. I’ll pick up an edger and practice a bit.

So, a couple things, if you are going to hand wipe your strop make sure your hands are clean. Just for grins, look at your palms with a magnifying glass, you would be surprised what is imbedded in your skin, even after washing your hands.

Do not strop any razor that has not been cleaned with steel wool and polished with metal polish, at least. Rust is very hard and once imbedded in a strop, leather or linen is difficult to remove.

Dampen a clean white paper towel and wipe your strop, you will see how clean your stop is.

It is not uncommon for scratches to appear at the high grit stone in the progression or after stropping. Those scratches are not made by the high grit finisher or the strop. They were made by the low grit stone and were not removed by the progression. Once all the other stria was polished away the deep scratches became visible.

If this is a restored edge, where heavy steel was removed, or a low grit diamond plate was used to profile or remove damage, the edge may be weak. You will have to remove some steel to get to solid steel.

Joint the edge on your high grit stone and re-set the edge, should only take about 20 laps.

Edge bevellers are inexpensive, make sure they are sharp, hone it on a pasted shoelace or heavy string, metal polish is a good paste, as is chrome Oxide. Loop the string on a door knob and pull tight, run the beveler on the pasted string until it gleams.

Originally Posted by outback

My thoughts as well.
Rub a cotton ball over the strop, see if it catches on anything.

If your gonna clean it, use saddle soap instead of Glycerin.

I use Ballistol on all my leather including my vintage shell strops. It works great for restoring vintage dried out shell strops.

Dave Huffman