Strop Resurfacing (pictures)

[Magpie]

This was my first "real" strop, and frankly, it was a cheapy and never felt right to me. Early on, I nicked it, which you can see about 2 inches below the finish circle. I decided to try and refinish it, just to see if I could. the initial sanding revealed the difference between a cheap strop, and a quality one!


High spots, low spots, a little of each spots even SPOTTY spots! To get the surfaces smooth and flat(ter) I decided a sanding block was needed. I opted to use a soft ark stone simply because it was a good size and handy. I first used 1500 grit paper, but it clogged up so fast and the leather was so uneven, I dropped way back to 220 grit and started over.

sanding of leather makes a horrible dust, like all other dusty things, wear your respirator!
You can see in the following photo how the fresh layers of leather are drastically lighter in color and a course texture.


Here is where I got my surprise. When I moved up to 600 grit, the paper clogged up quickly as before. HOWEVER, when rubbed briskly, it also started to burnish the leather! the color began getting darker again!




Here is the strop, after being rubbed down with 1500 grit paper. Smoother than it was, and certainly more evenly finished. It took me about 2 hours total time. a coating of mink oil is soaking into it as we speak, and I will put it to test sometime tomorrow.

If it fails to work, nothing terrible has been lost. If it does work, I have a few nicer strops I can return to active service!