Thread: Illinois 827

You probably should not have sanded the #827 as it tends to cause more problems then it solves... The beer bottle trick Damon mentions might help but the #827 is an animal unto itself, and doesn't always react like other strops..

It sounds to me like you probably wanted the #127 (Slick finsh) instead but it has the same linen that you don't like I can tell you from quite a bit of experience with them, that the Linen works and works very well, but you have to use it to learn that...

I like the 827 especially for Kamisori stropping, the non-slick finish works really well on them for me.

The linen component while really slick and obnoxious sounding, works great. It does soften up with time and use.

Can you use neat's foot oil on the 827?

There is no need to sand or smooth an 827. It will break in with normal use, and broken in is still rough. It's supposed to be that way.
It's a strop in which the bottom grain is the stropping surface. If you want something to act like a strop that uses the top grain, get a strop that uses the top grain.

I don't use my 827 as a daily, or 'finishing' strop, for what that's worth. If there's such a thing as a course strop, that's how I treat it.