Thread: Strop bent up at the edges

Hi all. As the title suggests, I have a strop that has the sides bending upward. Nothing major. It does not however allow the full drag of the blade on the strop. The edges started to get slightly frayed. I bought it as NOS from ebay. Never been used and I'm wondering if any of you gents might know what to do to flatten it out.

Could you post pics? They would get the best response

Thanks for the post! I have a NOS horsehide one with the same problem so I shall be watching here.
Respectfully
~Richard

I'm no expert but i think i would put the leather conditioner paste on it and stack some weight on it for a day or two.

Sadly my camera is not working at the moment. the curved edges are almost not noticeable. However when stropping, the blade slides across the edges and is starting to "fray" the leather. is there a kind of softener? soap? I tried putting it between books for a while but no luck.

You might try this: Apply some neatsfoot oil to the
BACK of the strop. Not too much...put the oil on a
piece of cloth and then rub it in evenly. You might
even apply a very light coat of oil to the face of the
strop, but definitely a very light coat.

Then get a round glass bottle and "strop" the bottle
on the backside. If the front surface is cupped, then
the backside has a high center. The idea is to flatten
that out.

Hang it up for a day and then do the same thing again:
light oil application, followed by bottle-stropping on
the backside.

Do this for a few days, and it should be better.

Unfortunately, it is a common occurrence - leather being the natural substance that it is.

Before you try anything you might want to try gently rolling the edges down by hand. Another useful way to do this is to find a gently curving former - or make one out of well sanded-down wood and clamp it so that you can pull the strop over it under pressure, rough side down against the former. If you pull the leather back-and-forth a number of times over a number of days you might cure the problem.

Regards,
Neil

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

Unfortunately, it is a common occurrence - leather being the natural substance that it is.

Before you try anything you might want to try gently rolling the edges down by hand. Another useful way to do this is to find a gently curving former - or make one out of well sanded-down wood and clamp it so that you can pull the strop over it under pressure, rough side down against the former. If you pull the leather back-and-forth a number of times over a number of days you might cure the problem.

Regards,
Neil

Sorry, Neil. What do you mean by a "former"?

Hmm something slightly rounded could work(table leg, barrel, etc)
flesh side against curve, lather the strop, cower with newspaper and tape it down for a couple of days

That should make the strop curve a little the other way so dont overdo it

Hi Alan,

Just like Janivar says, something curved. Could be a found object or you could shape a bit of timber yourself, or just get a gentle bend in a bit of smooth iron bar or similar.

The old russian shell strops were made in this way - people actually pulled the strop back and forth over the former for ages until they invented a machine to do the same thing.

Regards,
Neil