Thread: I just killed my Strop

I had just finished shaving and wiped down the razor to strop it for the next shave and I guess that I didn't wipe my hands very well as they were a little slippery. Anyway I started stropping and about 15 strokes in I must have got distracted, or got careless or something, but when I flipped the razor over for the return stroke, it slipped in my hand and the blade flipped and faced forward towards me instead of backwards, this was no little nick, it went from the edge through 1/3rd of the leathers' 75mm width before I had even realised what was going on, this strop was the one I made about 6-8 weeks ago and was about 5mm thick. Damn those straight razors are sharp.... memo to myself, pay attention when handling a straight razor especially when shaving. So now if I trim it up, it will be too short to use as a razor strop, so will most likely cut off the leather and delegate to the the shed for chisels, knives etc. Time to make another strop, or two, or three. Not happy!

Wow, lucky your hands are ok and how did the razor do?

CA glue it back in place and sand it,may be okay.

Surprisingly the razor stayed sharp as ever with no damage. I still can't work out how it happened but fortunately it only damaged the strop.

Lesson learned.

Now, take some contact cement and apply to both sides sparingly & press back together. Clean up the excess/squeeze-out on the stropping side & put it back to work. Just remember that your skin is much thinner than your strop.

Keep your eyes on the razor at all times...they are sneaky suckers!

Definitely lesson learnt, I was quite surprised how easily and effortlessly it sliced through that amount of thick leather

One other observation,Your getting very close to the Chicago screws.On your return trip it would have been about one inch.
You might try lessening your excursion so as not to hit them with the blade,That would be a disaster.

Dang fine job. It can join pinklather's cemetary for brutalized strops. I put 5 residents there. 'Makes me cringe to say it.
'Looks like burgundy latigo. If latigo, it can get grabby and do exactly as you found. The most risky blades for me are the shorties - 4/8. With big hands, those tiny shanks are hard to have a positive grip. I strop slowly w/ the little ones, having placed a few residents. Now that said, I *DO* like the heavy draw of latigo now, and its my daily, along w/ an SRDP1. I didn't like latigo when I started, 'cause I couldn't keep a light stroke smooth w/ the heavy draw. For reasons unknown, but following the lead of others, I use latigo for its heavy draw first, then light work on a low draw like the P1 or some horsehide.

Looking at the photo I would say it is DOA for a hanging strop. Good material for a bench strop though, the undamaged part. Just IMHO.

DANG.............................................!