Thread: Kanayama Cordovan Strop 90000 - Not the quality it used to be

Since it's been a month I sent an e-mail to the vendor without hearing anything back, I would like to advise anyone that you order from japanesenaturalstones.com at your own risk. I do not wish to bad mouth anyone, but I will express my disappointment with that shop.

Quality control before shipping his product(s) didn't happen, as there was obvious damage to the box that housed the strop and no damage to the box it was shipped in, and after contacting him his customer service is non existent in my case.

I heard good things about Maxim in the past but I am highly disappointed with his service.
I didn't expect him to fix anything and I didn't request that he did, but just sending an e-mail back would've sufficed to acknowledge the problem with the strop.
Costly mistake.

Sorry to read, real shame. Maxim used to be an active member here. Last post 2013.

I have purchased three strops directly from Kanayama in the last two years.
I literally went to the workshop in Tokyo.They are 80,000 and 90,0000 with
zero issues. Sorry that you had a problem.

It was the last strop in stock, probably for a simple reason. Nobody wanted it, or he couldn't / wouldn't sell it, only as last resort.

I can't comment on others, but whereas they all used to be perfect; I read that a few lesser slip through.

I wish I had ordered from Kanayama directly as I suspect his QC would be good; although import duties and taxes that my country charges are insane so I looked for a European vendor.

Either way. I cut off a piece of the rough feeling leather and keep working the leather with daily palm rubbing and stropping a spare razor on it to smooth it out.
The leather doesn't feel the same as the strop I bought a decade ago, but I feel that it will eventually turn out to be a fine functional strop. All good.

Originally Posted by YokohamaGaijin

I have purchased three strops directly from Kanayama in the last two years.
I literally went to the workshop in Tokyo.They are 80,000 and 90,0000 with
zero issues. Sorry that you had a problem.

How was the leather on them when you bought them new?

I don't understand why mine has a film on it that releases small shiny coating like particles when I strop on it.

Originally Posted by TristanLudlow

I don't understand why mine has a film on it that releases small shiny coating like particles when I strop on it.

Sounds like a layer of dried out leather finish.

Originally Posted by TristanLudlow

Since it's been a month I sent an e-mail to the vendor without hearing anything back, I would like to advise anyone that you order from japanesenaturalstones.com at your own risk. I do not wish to bad mouth anyone, but I will express my disappointment with that shop.

Quality control before shipping his product(s) didn't happen, as there was obvious damage to the box that housed the strop and no damage to the box it was shipped in, and after contacting him his customer service is non existent in my case.

I heard good things about Maxim in the past but I am highly disappointed with his service.
I didn't expect him to fix anything and I didn't request that he did, but just sending an e-mail back would've sufficed to acknowledge the problem with the strop.
Costly mistake.

Last time I emailed him he never responded. I thought his customer serviced was poor and it seems like once he has your sale he's not interested

I've heard from a few gents that Maxim is a charlatan.

Cannot disagree with the previous posts as I'm 100% positive he saw others and my mail and willingly ignored us.
Not responding is also a response.
All his orders and paypal payments go straight to his same e-mail as his contact e-mail, so yeah. Cannot recommend.

I’ve been following this thread and I’m not sure that I agree that the quality has decreased over time, so I will post the dissenting opinion for discussion sake.

There certainly is strop-to-strop variation in color and finish. As evidence, I offer 5 Kanoyama strops bought over a period of 10 years or so. All were bought new except the 80k on the left, so I don’t know if it’s had dressing put on it or not by the previous owner. I think that I’ve put a little Dovo strop paste on it maybe 7 years ago. Left to right, used 80k, 80k, 70k, 30k, 3k (Takeshi’s old basic model). I also have an ultra cheap $75-ish model with a handle from Fendrihan but it’s in a travel case somewhere.

Anyway, if your strop is grainy feeling, rub it with a nagura or sand it with 2k sandpaper or finer. Or both. It isn’t the leather, it’s the finish. If it’s too light in color, you could try rubbing it with a wet cloth then letting it dry. This will rise a nap so you’ll want to rub it with a nagura if you don’t like that but the nap will wear off with use.

If you see shiny specks on the surface, that could be the gold leaf coming off, especially around the edges of the imprint on a new strop. Wipe these off.

I have not had any issue with any Kanoyama strop over 10 years, though I know of some folks that have had some issues with a particular strop.

They were bought in this order over time; used 80k, about 10 years ago, #3 about 9 years ago as a backup, 70k and 30k about 5 years ago, and the last 80k about 2-3 years ago.

All of them are smooth and slick, but I do burnish them with a nagura. If your strop feels grainy, get out a nagura and give it a good polish. You’ll have to de-glaze your nagura after this. I keep an older nagura from Max just for strop duty and it works great.

A lot of things can affect the color of the leather, the horse naturally, but how fine the leather is finished to will affect the color too. If you’ve ever sanded a strop, you know that when you go to finer grits the leather darkens considerably, especially from 600 up. Fats will cause it to darken, so if you apply fats on a regular basis, even small amounts, the leather will darken over time. I also suspect that exposure to light might darken it too. BTW, none of these strops has ever had any fat on them except the 80k on the left, and they’re all in as-new condition. I never put any oil or fat on cordovan as recommended by Iwasaki and Naomi San.

You either like or dislike the finish of the strop. That is perfectly OK. But a wavy, cupped strop as Tristan received is an issue that shouldn't happen with an expensive high-end strop.