Thread: Rough surfaced strops

How big of a deal is it if a strop has some kind of "texture" to the surface?

I bought an Illinois 827 awhile back, and the stropping surface has ridges in it. I have oiled and used strop dressing, but there is still a roughness to the surface.

I have numerous vintage strops that are all very smooth. That is what I'm currently using. I didn't really need the Illinois, but one day thought it would be fun to buy a brand new strop as a comparison.

Obviously the Illinois 827 is a respected strop in it's price range. I'm just wondering about those ridges...

I have an Illinois 992 Uniflex Russia strop. I understand the higher Illinois # indicate a firmer and rougher texture. Tony Miller on this sight has much insight on their products. A PM to him could give much more information.

Tony expressed that the compressed leathers from Illinois Razor Strop Co are made with the inside facing out unllike other leathers. This might explain the roughti texture of the stropping side of these compressed leather strops.

MikeB

Originally Posted by sdsquarepoint

Tony expressed that the compressed leathers from Illinois Razor Strop Co are made with the inside facing out unllike other leathers. This might explain the roughti texture of the stropping side of these compressed leather strops.

MikeB

The 827 is a reversed leather with the ridges, their other leathers are all using the top grain, outer surface. The 127 would be the smooth version of the same strop.

Not sure if your stropping issue is just with the rougher texture or with the embossed ridged actually creating bumps or ridges on the usable side.

There are lots of threads here dealing with sanding and smoothing an 827 to make it smooth but I still think starting with a 127 would make more sense as it is already a smooth strop. One that model it could be used as is, or with very little work a nice buffed surface could be created with far less work than the 827.

Tony

Not actually owning an 827 myself, but having a 127, I have to agree with Tony.

The stropping surface is brilliant. I even bought one for my dad! One thing though, I personally wouldnt recommend 'treating' the leather with a conditioner. I treated mine with the dovo yellow paste and didnt like it - it changed the feel of the leather completely. When I got the 127 for my dad I then had a direct opportunity to see the diference, and it was incredible!

Saying that, its just my personal preference.

Hope this helps.

James

I guess the pertinent question, then, is: can the 827 effectively strop a razor with the embossed ridges and all?

Originally Posted by HNSB

How big of a deal is it if a strop has some kind of "texture" to the surface?

I bought an Illinois 827 awhile back, and the stropping surface has ridges in it. I have oiled and used strop dressing, but there is still a roughness to the surface.

I have numerous vintage strops that are all very smooth. That is what I'm currently using. I didn't really need the Illinois, but one day thought it would be fun to buy a brand new strop as a comparison.

Obviously the Illinois 827 is a respected strop in it's price range. I'm just wondering about those ridges...

Today Russian Process Leather generates a back ridged side and a
smooth front stropping side. The back is very washboard like and
never touches a razor. The front is pressed and if tinkered with
will get a suede like surface. As best I can tell the process uses two
rollers one ridged and the other smooth. Perhaps the combination
makes it easy to finish the leather.

My old now lost Russian leather strop had the washboard back same as
my newer 827 but the strop surface was the top/full grain split of the hide.
I suspect the 827 is a split not a finished top/full grain strop.
Both had the washboard side inside facing the canvas.

My 827 is a good strop. My only issue is that the canvas is too
processed. It is however breaking in so may be fine in the end.

Can you take a picture of your 827 and show us what is going on.
(There is a long shot that it was reassembled outside in.)

Also Russian Process can refer to a vegetable tanning process unrelated
to the finish.

Tom,
The 827s I have had matched your description but I found the working surface varied from a reasonably smooth split (basically todays scrubbed leather) with a suede like surface, but mostly just the raw finish of the flesh side that had been compressed by the action of the ridged roller from the back. They almost has the same texture as a terry cloth towe, not suede.

Skiving (splitting) will give one texture, then buffing and sanding after splitting will give another, more soft and forgiving finish.

I used to pair an 827 leather with a 127 leather to have a dual strop, with both coarse and smooth surfaces.

The front may feel rough but should not feel like a washboard.

Tony

Originally Posted by Tony Miller

...
the same texture as a terry cloth towe, not suede. .
....
The front may feel rough but should not feel like a washboard.

Terry cloth is a much better description of how mine was
until I worked on mine a little bit. I am still confused about
the original posters texture issues.

And yes it should not be like a washboard.
I can only wonder if it got oiled or wet and expanded
to reflect the texture of the back. If so working with
a bottle might help but only if it is no longer in a condition
to return.

Image showing the 'wrong' side and its ruffles and ridges.


Image showing the model number to eliminate confusion.
It also shows the terry cloth texture a bit.


BTW: I like this strop.

Yeah, my 827 definitely has the top leather to the back, and that is the very ridged part of the leather.

Because of the tooling (I know that's not the right word, but don't know my leather terminology) on the backside, there are much less pronounced ridges on the front. These aren't nearly as pronounced as the washboard-like surface of the back, but are definitely there. You can hear and feel them as a razor is brought across the strop.