Thread: Illinois 827 Russian Strop

I bought an Illinois 827 Russian strop a couple of days ago, and was hoping forum members could advise me whether or not the strop need any prep work. I have been using strop, and prep it by just rubbing my palm on the stop as advised in the wiki.

One thing that I did notice is the strop leather has a grain, and when I strop against the grain little leather pieces stick up, is this normal? Should I sand away these pieces of leather?

Also is the linen side any good? What I normally do is 10 linen passes, and then 50 leather passes. What have people found to work best for them(carbon steel blades)?

Thanks

First off I would recommend 50 passes on the linen as well as the leather and then if you wish to help the strop "break in" use the back of a table knife and strop until your arms fall off or you are satisfied. The 827 is an excellent strop, just a little different.

I'd recommend a glass bottle, I use a beer bottle, rubbed vigorously along the length of the strop. Make sure you don't rub with the seam!

Also, the Linen, as Nun2 said, is great to use!

So I would just strop using a table/butter knife or rub it with the back of the knife? Or rub it with the smooth side of a beer bottle? This would help break in the strop?

Also should I rub my palm on the linen, I don't since it is white?

Use the spine of the table knife. Or use the smooth of the beer bottle... use force, and rub thoroughly.

Don't bother palm-rubbing the Linen

Originally Posted by ShavedZombie

Use the spine of the table knife. Or use the smooth of the beer bottle... use force, and rub thoroughly.

Don't bother palm-rubbing the Linen

This is it! If using the tableknife, strop like it was a razor, remember to flip it on the spine.

When I bought my Illinois 827 strop (20 years ago),
I gave it a "quick" break-in treatment:

1) On the linen side, rub in some shaving soap (not
lather) and polish with a glass bottle

2) On the leather side, rub in some commercial strop
dressing or neatsfoot oil (NOT honing paste!), and
polish with a glass bottle

3) Do as nun2sharp says: strop the hell out of it with
the back of a butter knife...limber it up

4) Do as many recommend: each day, run the palm or
the heel of your hand up and down the strop a bunch
of times before stropping your razor.

The 827 has served me well. Just keep it clean and
give it the dressing/oil/polish treatment now and
again, and it should do the same for you.

Paul

As I understand it the 827 is suppose to have a nap to it. If you follow the instructions given thus far you will ruin your strop. Not that you wont be able to use it but it will no longer have the qualities that the manufacturer intended. The 127 is the smoother version of the 827. If you had the 127 I would say that all advice given so far is spot on. gssixgun has an 827 as do some others. Maybe you should wait for them to chime in.

Mark, it is true the strop will lose some nap, but it is usually excess and makes the strop hard to use, the breaking in that I have described will even the nap and in doing so give it a better draw. I understand its all subjective and up to each individuals preference, this is my opinion based on my experience.

BTW isnt the 827 the courser strop and the 127 the smoother? Maybe I have it backwards. If I were at home I would go look.

The 827 does not need any treatment except for palm rubbing. The linen side is stiff and requires some time to break in. However, it is very effective.

If you think it is getting slightly dry, you can add some neatsfoot oil. Put it on a towel first and then apply it.