Restoring a Vintage Strop
Not sure if this thread should be here or in the restorations section, but I'll start it nonetheless...
Well I was surprised yesterday by my father who produced a strop which belonged to my great grandfather after I told him I've switched to straights! It is an "Oster" brand and is a horsehide strop. It has two different lengths of leather - a very smooth one which is labeled "finishing" and a rougher one which is labeled "sharpening" of course. Its a little rough to use it in its current condition, but I believe it to be very fixable. No cracked leather - in fact it is still fairly smooth and supple for leather around 70 years old!
My question is about strop restoration. I have sanded out nicks from my poor man's strop and after some oil it came out just fine. This is the extent of my experience with strops besides actual stropping. I'm thinking that the edges will need to be sanded due to light nicks. There is one nick that might need to be glued perhaps... It definitely needs some oil or conditioner. Since this is my great grandfather's strop I don't want to do anything risky. If it was my poor man's strop I probably would have done it already. Any suggestions? I'll try to get some pics up later tonight. Also, what kind of glue should be used?