Thread: Restauration advice request

I have a strop exactly like yours and the condition of the leather was also past saving. I had thought about restoring it however it is a very small thin strop so I kept it as is and use it as a decorator piece. Mine also has initials and a family crest in it and is ivory too.

I would try contacting some of the strop makers. Especially Tony Miller they may be able to break it down into parts reuse the handle with new padding and leather.

If you were in the U.S. I would restore it in a heartbeat gratis,very nice item.

Hi Mauri,

That leather is past it, I'm sorry to say. They tended to use very, very thin leather like fine pigskin or calf/kid, skived down to around 1mm thick. The stuff under it is to allow a bit of 'give' and also to conform to the fashion of the time - they often have a pronounced hump in the middle.

You don't need the middle raised, so you could strip it back to the wood. You will find that the ivory handle does not have much of a joint - the end of the paddle has a slight rebate and the ivory is fixed in position with a couple of small screws, or more commonly tacks. Now is the time to make sure that there is no looseness or flexing at the joint. The wooden slat is often a cheap softwood that is covered with leather-paper at the sides, or painted, sometimes to resemble ebony, although some were made of hardwoods like rosewood or ebony, in which case the sides are often left visible. You can either stain or paint the slat if it is a softwood, or get some thin leather paper from an art suppliers or stationers.

If you have a case for it and still want it to fit in the case, then you are limited to using quite thin leather like cordovan, kangaroo, etc, or if you know someone who has a skiving machine you can use any suitable leather. The glue used isn't that important. Contact adhesive works well, but you have to get the leather panels perfectly in place first time. PVA also works and allows you to move the panel before it sets. If using PVA you will have to apply some pressure - a few large books, perhaps, while it sets.

The joint at the top is hidden by gluing in place a thin strip of thin leather, or leather-paper.

Regards,
Neil

Hi Neil,

Many thanks for your post, you could perfectly describe my strop!
The handle is a little loose at the joint, I would try with CA glue and if it works I'd try to simply glue new leather on the old one. It the glue doesn't hold the handle, I will have to dismember the strop and rebuild it with new materials, which seems the best way to me, but much work!
However, the hardest part of this project seems to be the finding of a suitable leather, especially because the original leather has no paste anywhere, and so it must be apt to the final touch of a stropping process.
If I can restore it properly, I will post pictures of the finished work!

If you have trouble with finding a suitable leather Mauri, send me a PM with dimensions and I'll look through my cut-offs - I might have something around 2mm thick that would suit.

Regards,
Neil

Great gesture Niel,Mauri,any chance you could post a better close up pic of the Ivory portion? really love to see it.

Here they are:

Thank you,Is a fantastic artifact for sure,am going to make one when time allows Mauri,what is the overall lenth.
Keep us posted should you do some resto work.

Total length is 30,5 cm., width is 3,2 cm, ivory is 7,7 cm. (the part that extends out of the strop, inside of it I don't know) long and 3 cm large. Thickness off the strop is 1,5 cm., of the ivory is 0,5 cm. I found a piece of leather today, I'll post a picture ASAP!