Thread: Is my strop too far gone?

This is a strop that my Dad has had forever. He does not shave with a straight razor it was just something he came across and held onto. It looks pretty bad but I'm new to straight razor shaving and short on cash so I would much rather use it for free than buy one. Is this stop too far gone? Also I tried to get a picture of the stamps on the leather, any information on the brand would be appreciated.

Welcome to SRP. It is hard to say looking at photos without feeling the strop. Is it hard and inflexible, or does it still have some suppleness ? Are there nicks in the stropping area ? Would they catch the razor ? There are ways of treating an old strop to bring it back to life. I've washed vintage linens, if necessary, in Woolite in a bucket of cold water with good results. I don't recognize the brand but there were many of them back in those days and the "Shell" (horse butt) was the top of the line.

Still very flexible and the leather feels soft and smooth. There are no nicks in the stropping area just the large tear that has been sewn back together.

Originally Posted by Yorkshire27

Still very flexible and the leather feels soft and smooth. There are no nicks in the stropping area just the large tear that has been sewn back together.

If that is the case use it and find out. Will the stitches interfere with the stropping? It may be a good thing to give the old girl a massage with some neetsfoot oil just to cheer her up.

Welcome to SRP. Being that you mentioned your new to this unless your very comfortable with a hanging strop you could always glue it to a piece of wood and make a simple two sided paddle strop. Takes a lot of the challenges of stropping out of the equasion in my humble opinion.(for what little I know) Its pretty easy to find a spare piece of wood to use and some wood glue. I have both and happen to prefer my paddles to the hanging maybe because it allows me to be lazy and just sit watching tv and strop away with ease.
Respectfully,
Christian

There is about 8 inches of good stropping area between the handle and the tear. With this short of a distance would I need to make more than 60 strokes?

How bad is the tear if the stitches were gently removed and the tear repaired with some super glue?

I'd go along with nun2sharp's suggestion. Use the Neatsfoot sparing, let it dry for a day or so and try it with a dull straight or bread knife. 60-100 passes in the area that you're going to use and see how it feels.

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

How bad is the tear if the stitches were gently removed and the tear repaired with some super glue?

I would say the tear is very fixable with superglue but the holes from the stitching would be a different story. Would the holes left from the stitching pose a problem?

Originally Posted by Yorkshire27

I would say the tear is very fixable with superglue but the holes from the stitching would be a different story. Would the holes left from the stitching pose a problem?

I've repaired a cut flap with epoxy glue (if you're going to drink, don't strop) and it smoothed out and held fine. I don't think the holes would be a problem. After you glue it fill the holes too if they are large enough. After it dries 100% take a bottle and lay the strop on a flat surface and give it a going over like you were rolling out a pie crust. That is what I would do anyway.