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

Hi all, I ordered a Kanayama Cordovan Strop 90000 a few months ago.

Due to circumstances didn't get around to using it until now, turned out to be a expensive mistake. [Well being outside the return period.]

I did open it upon arrival and I did notice the residue on it and that it wasn't flat across its width, but life happens and I totally forgot about it until today.

I have another Kanayama bought a decade ago which is superb.

I am not satisfied, nor happy with the recently purchased 9000.

It has a residue on it that sheds onto my razors and makes the strop feel rough.
This might be normal and needs breaking in, but is very annoying. I’ve been stropping some spare razors on it, but it keeps shedding residue although it’s becoming smoother. This I can live with as it most likely will solve itself eventually.
Although the strop also feels much stiffer than the other one I have.

But one major issues is that the strop is not flat across its width, it is wavy.
It’s cupped and goes down up down up down across its width.

I have other Nakayamas I ordered a decade ago and these didn’t have these issues and are also perfectly flat across its width while being perfectly smooth upon arrival. Although I ordered them from Rasurpur back in the day and Martin might've broken them in for me.

For the price and reputation this high end strop has, it’s highly subpar.
Or the quality has severly declined.

I might try some methods that could benefit the strop, but in all honesty for the price I'm not motivated having to do this.

I've also contacted the vendor to hear if he has some ideas or input.
I'm not going to mention the vendor, as he's done nothing wrong and provided quick service. I do wish he had done a quality check before shipping, as a strop from this price range should be perfect and ready to use out of the box.
Meh, live and learn. At least we lived.

Really sorry the strop has these issues.
It might be possible to take out the problem with a LOT of rolling with s beer bottle.
Another method would be rubbing on the back side of the leather with a large spoon.

+1 on what Rolodave said. Id also mention that Naomi San is an old boy in his late 80s/early 90s. Father Time waits for no man.

I have a 70k about 7 years old, No issues. My go to is an old russian shell that i got on the bay for $20.

Originally Posted by Bill31521

I have a 70k about 7 years old, No issues. My go to is an old russian shell that i got on the bay for $20.

My old one also has no issues, this one is pretty much a waste of money. My old strop by Naomi San is the best strop I've ever used.

I'm just not having good luck with strops.
I also have a custom strop made by a highly regarded strop maker and the leather is filled with micro-tears. Hmpfz.



Guess both my supposedly high-end strops are going into my woodworking shop, such a waste of money.

I don’t think Naomi San is the one making them any more, it’s a shame, one of my best strops

Yep, I have a 90K I bought several years ago and it's a work of art.

How was it shipped? Sometimes shipping can do bad things to strops if not done properly.

Something looks strange at the top clamp in the 2nd picture. If the top clamp is bent uneven, it will cause waves which will run down the strop.
If my strop is cupping, I pull it tight and cup it the other way by squeezing the sides with the other hand so the sides are low and the center is high. I then pull my hand down the strop maintaining the upwards cup several times.
Some never need it, but some do frequently. Mostly my thinner strops do this.
A matter of 'training' the leather

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Something looks strange at the top clamp in the 2nd picture. If the top clamp is bent uneven, it will cause waves which will run down the strop.
If my strop is cupping, I pull it tight and cup it the other way by squeezing the sides with the other hand so the sides are low and the center is high. I then pull my hand down the strop maintaining the upwards cup several times.
Some never need it, but some do frequently. Mostly my thinner strops do this.
A matter of 'training' the leather

I have removed the clamp and been manipulating the leather as you said.
I'm hesitantly positive that it will eventually even out, the strop itself is very supple and feels like it will mold towards an acceptable shape.

The surface itself doesn't feel nearly as good as my old one.

Rubbing over it it feels like a film of dried up dirt/residue is on it.
Not glassy smooth as my old one, and near the upper part of the strop it becomes much thinner and the leather feels pretty bad there.
I've been literally scraping it slowly with the edge of a razor and it's getting slowly better.
You can feel a ton of small dots on the surface, it's pretty bad. After carefully scraping, the majority of the stropping surface starts to feel decent though, still stiff, but getting better, I'm hopeful.

Interestingly when scraping it's like a clear coat is coming off, shiny little pieces.

I'm curious how it will eventually turn out, but I do think there's a nice piece of leather in there somewhere. But for now I'm not putting my daily shavers on it.

Daily rubbing and some light scraping will have to do, microfiber cloths don't help and scraping is a must to even and smooth out the texture. Still very poor quality for the 90000 or any Kanayama for that matter. Uneven thickness, rough texture, cupping, hard & dirty feeling stropping surface. It was the last 90000 in stock when I bought it, probably for a reason.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Yep, I have a 90K I bought several years ago and it's a work of art.

How was it shipped? Sometimes shipping can do bad things to strops if not done properly.

It was shipped well.

BUT the box it was shipped in was not damaged, the box of the strop itself had a dent in it and the strop itself was also dented. Like the box was stored against the leg of a storage shelf.

So I do blame the vendor for bad or no QC before shipping. Luckily these strops are very supple and it didn't look like it caused permanent damage.
Silly me for not immediately sending it back, but ack, can't change that now. That's on me.