Thread: Lathering a strop

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

Not that I'm advocating the use of lead, of course - it's harmful effects are probably too well-known by us all to go into here, but that's how some of the russian horsehide strops were treated in the past.

Great info Neil thanks. I am paranoid about lead. I used to cast bullets for hours in the kitchen. Now I don't even like to touch the darn stuff. Reading that newsprint used to contain lead is a mind blower. No telling how much exposure we used to get from the stuff years ago. The lead in gasoline went into the atmosphere and we breathed it. Gives me the shivers to think about it.

Would a normal strop from Tony Miller benefit from a lathering after a while? This sounds like a cool method, but I don't want to ruin a strop with experiments.

What are other ways to add draw to a strop?

Originally Posted by Seraphim

Here's a good recipe for strop lathering.

Even talks about using alum afterwards to help bring out the draw!

WOW! Where have you been hiding that gem of an article!!

Alan

Just for a complete description for the beginners could we clarify what a "stiff lather" is?

My thoughts have always been on the dry side. That right?

Originally Posted by Disburden

Would a normal strop from Tony Miller benefit from a lathering after a while? This sounds like a cool method, but I don't want to ruin a strop with experiments.

What are other ways to add draw to a strop?

I would PM Tony before I lathered my Artisan horse/latigo.

Good call, I was going to lather it tonight but I was scared of ruining it.

Originally Posted by Disburden

Would a normal strop from Tony Miller benefit from a lathering after a while? This sounds like a cool method, but I don't want to ruin a strop with experiments.

What are other ways to add draw to a strop?

Can you define "after a while". A quality strop should not
need tinkering for a long time perhaps "years" IMO before
it needs lathering (outside of a barbershop).

You might get a quality lanolin based hand cream. Add
one drop to your hand rub it into your hand then rub the
strop prior to or after using it. One of the sources of draw
is "gummy" oxidized natural oil. Most hand lotions have
mineral oil as their primary oil they are not ideal and might make a
strop slick.

Some strop leather is finished with wax and oil. Rubbing such
a surface with clean rough paper will remove wax and oil
and might help if the wax and oil make it "too fast". Normal
use will also remove wax and oil, thus the paper chase trick is
just to speed things up.

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

The original russian shell strops were top quality, made of horsehide, very slick and quite stiff. They were supposed to be that way and did not really require any breaking-in.

New russian strops, on the other hand, are mostly not horsehide - the "russian" refers to the method of tanning. A lot of people misinterpret this - even reputable shops, one of whom sells a "russian" strop by "Prima Rindleder" - the latter part is not a company, just german for best quality cowhide!

The 1900 Handbook of Subsistence Stores for the War Dept says that:

The razor strops furnished for the use of the Army consist of two parts or, rather, two strops combined in one implement. One part or strop is made of Russian horsehide leather, and the other of linen-duck hose canvas. [...] The razor strops are kept in good order for use by applying shaving lather from a cup to both the leather and the canvas parts twice a week with a shaving brush, and afterwards rubbing them with a stick of especially prepared lead, which is furnished with each razor strop. A small tin tube containing an oily dressing for occasional use on the leather strop is also furnished. To use the dressing, take enough of it from the tube to cover the tip of the forefinger and apply it on both sides of the leather part, evenly distributing it by rubbing. A razor strop should not be used within an hour of applying this dressing. This dressing should only be used when a proper edge cannot be otherwise obtained on the razor. These razor strops when properly stored are warranted to keep in good condition for five years. They are put up separately in cartons, 24 cartons to a case.

The lead bar is interesting - obviously it does the same job as rubbing with the bottle, but there must have been something about it's metallic nature that enhanced the strops performance. Further to this, the Household Cyclopaedia of 1881 says:

Another excellent mode of renovating a razor-strop is by rubbing it well with pewter, and impregnating the leather with the finest metallic particles

The old pewter alloy contained, among other things, tin and lead (I don't think modern pewter contains lead). So the common denominator is lead. Lead was present in the old newsprint-ink formulations, and people used to strop on newspaper. The stuff in the old black newsprint inks was probably 'litharge' - lead-oxide.

Not that I'm advocating the use of lead, of course - it's harmful effects are probably too well-known by us all to go into here, but that's how some of the russian horsehide strops were treated in the past.

Regards,
Neil.

I just read through this thread again after Jimmy linked here from another thread, and was interested in the use of lead. Has or Would anyone be prepared to rub a strop with lead to see if it makes any difference?
I would be happy to try it myself on an old strop and report back but I don't have any lead bars lying around.
(I'm not suggesting anything too dangerous here -just the one off use to see what it's like.)

And has/would anyone be interested in running an alum bar, as suggested in the 1908 book, over their strop?

Cheers,

Rob

I would do the Alum bar tonight. My strops are perfect already, but if it helps. I love it when two completely contradictory threads are right next to each other. If you read Arthur Boon you'll learn of about twenty compounds that can go on a strop, at least one of which is mandatory to make leather into a strop.

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

I would do the Alum bar tonight. My strops are perfect already, but if it helps. I love it when two completely contradictory threads are right next to each other. If you read Arthur Boon you'll learn of about twenty compounds that can go on a strop, at least one of which is mandatory to make leather into a strop.

Give it a shot, I really liked it when I tried it, brings out the draw!