Good evening Gents,
I found this old strop on Ebay few days ago, and I had to get it because it has my initials on the handle :)
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Good evening Gents,
I found this old strop on Ebay few days ago, and I had to get it because it has my initials on the handle :)
I can't tell much from the pic.
If the leather is not too dried and cracking, you can probably clean it up with a tallow soap (I use Williams for restoring strops).
Once you have it cleaned up and dried well, apply a little Neatsfoot Oil.
Rub it in well and you should have a very servicable strop.
Congratulations on the "initial" find!
Good evening Gents,
I found this old strop on Ebay a few days ago, and I had to get it because it has my initials on the handle :)
Attachment 99649
Today it arrived, and I could ascertain that the handle is a huge piece of elephant ivory (the crossing lines are at an angle of about 115°), and it is larger than I expected, so I am very happy...
But the leather is totally ruined! Only the central part of one side can be used... I shot these pics using a side light source to explain it better:
Attachment 99650Attachment 99651
It's structure is particular, it is soft and seems to be made up of a wooden structure, covered by some soft paper, covered by a very thin sheet of leather, that is still very soft but can make an edge well shiny with few passes.
And so here I am asking for the help of the expert restorers that I know are among the members of this forum, with the following questions:
Is there a way to save this leather?
What kind of leather should I put on it?
What is the best way to bring it back to operative conditions?
Can anybody guess how old is it, or its provenance? On the cover there is nothing, just DM on the handle, but I guess that are the initials of the original owner... I bought it from an English seller.
Thanks in advance!
I don't know why but it seems that the server loaded just the first part of my post. Here are other pics, shot with a side light source to show that only the center of one side can be saved...
Attachment 99652
Attachment 99653
I am thinking about putting new leather on it, but I don't know what to use...
If the ivory is long enough for a set of scales, Id scrap the strop in a heartbeat.
I don't understand, my thread has been loaded twice, and only this one is complete...
The ivory is not long enough, and I would loose my initials... :hmmm:
It is difficult to see the exact condition of the leather, but to me it looks poor and replacement would be a serious consideration. However, I suppose it would not hurt to condition it first to see how it reacts. Perhaps even a light sandpapering or pumicing (being careful about contamination) beforehand as well - waste not want not, as they say.
However, if indeed it does not come up well and you decide to replace it you'll want a nice supple leather, and probably not too thick. Any good quality leather would do I think. If it were me, I'd let the piece that was on there be my guide as to thickness and method of attachment, but most likely it will be thinner than a hanging strop, and glued.
Good luck.
James.
Hi Mauri,
Yeah it looks like it's going to need the leather replaced.
I haven't replaced leather. I have refurbished strops, including some minor sanding, but never one this bad.
Maybe somone with more experience can address the type of leather you might need.
I merged the two threads, hopefully Pixelfixed, will see this he is pretty knowledgeable about Ivory
Thank you Gssixgun!
And thank you to all the others who answered. I think that if I can find a subtle leather fit for this strop I will cut a piece long a little more than twice the strop, and glue it on the older leather. I just have to find the right supplier...
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.
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!
Thanks Mauri,have actually drawn up some plans to make one,will use ebony for the main board and pin the ivory handle to it,may use Roo to keep it as thin as possible.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mauri
Biggest hurdle will be making a leather sheath,maybe make a wood form,sew the sheath than insert the form with the leather wet,keep us posted,should be fun.
Will have the handle scrimshawed with something.
Attachment 99843
I found this leather at my shop yesterday. It is quite soft, the rough side is softer than the flat one, which would be better to use?
If you have an 'old style' shoe makers shop in your area you might want to stop in with it and see what he suggests. If you're lucky he's from Europe or Mideast and knows what you need.
Looks to have some sort of finish on it,Neil may have an answere for you.
Yes, I thought that too. Some finishes have a kind of plastic sprayed over them that look very like that and which makes the skin side unsuitable for stropping - it 'drags' a bit and ultimately wears away, leaving patches with varied resistance to the passage of the blade, not a nice feeling! The flesh side looks a bit coarser than I would like too, but maybe the softness will make up for that. If in doubt, why don't you get a bit of plank and stretch and tack the leather over it and try it out - might be perfectly OK.Quote:
Originally Posted by pixelfixed
If you do need to source more leather, ask for a vegetable tanned leather and not a chromed one.
Regards,
Neil
Mauri, in your part of the world,you should have access to some of the finest leather available at not alot of cost.
I think your project is worthy of the best,JMO.
Moving along with mine at the moment I have all cut and roughed out,thx for the demensions, they were very helpful.
Mauri,Did you ever get yours done? Thx for the demensions, heres my rendition in the rough still.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...urispaddle.jpg
Is that real ivory? Coming alone nice, keep us posted.
Yes it's real,decided to use a piece of oak as the the leather backing board.will ebonize the side flats before I glue the leather in place.
Epoxied in an ebony bisquit to connect the handle to the oak,could not figure any other way to do it,seems stable, lot more work to do.
Will also give the ivory some rapid aging.
Great job Pixelfixed!
I had no time to work on mine yet, but I found a better piece of leather to use, more subtle also. It's my old wallet :) so the leather is very good. It served me for ten years and I had to change it because it was falling apart at the joints, but the main parts of it were still good. I will post pictures for sure as soon as I can work on it. What I still have to understand, is how to cut the leather and how to position it on the strop, so if you would post pictures of your work in progress it will surely help me!
Gents, I finally did it! My strop is now restored, alive and kicking!
Here are some pictures:
Attachment 102885
This is the joint of the handle with the rosewood body. The handle was fixed with two rivets.
Attachment 102886
This is an overview of my working place with all the stuff I used. On the right is the outer part of my wallet. First quality leather (It worked well for ten years, after all!). There is also the strop and its original leather, separated. That leather also has a nice draw, I'll keep it as it is or I'll use it for some other stropping tool, I don't know yet. The scalpel comes from a '70s dentist set. Also you can see the original collar at the handle-body joint. I could save and apply it to the finished strop :)
Attachment 102887
A side view of the handle-body joint. You can see some cotton to provide a soft touch to the leather. This also has been saved.
Attachment 102888
The right rivet was loose because of a crack in the ivory, so I had to put a new one in it. I used a drill point as a rivet, since it's very hard. Everything has been soaked in CA glue, and up to now it has worked well. I didn't imagine that ivory was so easy to work, I had worked with bone only before... Same stench, however!
Attachment 102889
Starting to glue the new leather...
Attachment 102890
And the finished strop! Side view...
Attachment 102891
Front view (quite rough, I admit it...)...
Attachment 102892
And the handle-body joint, with the original collar.
It took me half a day to do all this, but the result is amazing. The new leather works perfectly, I prefer it to my Dovo strop which is itself a quality product. I think this new/old strop will serve me for decades!
This said, I wish to heartedly thank all of you who helped me with this work, with yours ideas, suggestions and offers of your help. I could have not done it without your enlightening contributions!
With my best regards,
Mauri
Looks great Mauri,super save.
