Strop refinishing.

Just looking for some advice here. I have this vintage pigskin strop that is in pretty good condition. It has two sides to it. One says "sharped" the other says "finish".

There are a few minor scratches and a few little nicks on the edges but other than that the leather is in great condition. What I want to do is maybe sand the two sides down and get them back to their best performance! I was thinking about using some rougher grit on the 'sharpen' side and maybe applying some CrOx to it and then taking down the 'finish' side to bare leather and oiling it up?

What grit sand paper should I be using to achieve what I'm looking for??

Any help is MUCH appreciated!!!Attachment 105767Attachment 105768Attachment 105769Attachment 105770Attachment 105771Attachment 105772Attachment 105773Attachment 105774

Depending on the condition you can start from 220 or 400 and go all the way up to 2000 grit.
Another way of redoing the surface is to use Pumice stone, then 600-2000 sand paper.
The job is messy, it will take a decent amount of sand paper as it clogs easy by the leather, same with the pumice stone- it will clog a lot and you will have to clean it often.

Excellent. What about the 'sharpen' and 'finish' sides?? What should be the final grit used on each?

Strops do not have sharpen side as far as I know. The top side is the stropping side and that is it.

Picture a strop that has a leather strop and linen. Instead of a linen on mine, there is another leather one. At the top (check the pics) one says 'sharpen' the other says 'finish'

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Originally Posted by brooksie967

Picture a strop that has a leather strop and linen. Instead of a linen on mine, there is another leather one. At the top (check the pics) one says 'sharpen' the other says 'finish'

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In order to sharpen you have to remove enough metal, that happens on the 1-4k stones after that is smoothing the edge pretty much.
Leather does not abrade enough to sharpen, to test that just grab a dull razor and try to sharpen on the leather, not going to work even at the slightest.

i was thinking maybe using it for a paste side??

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Originally Posted by brooksie967

i was thinking maybe using it for a paste side??

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You can paste it but still not going to sharpen the razor, just want to make sure you understand that strops do not sharpen, they can somewhat refresh an edge that is a bit off.
The other side from the pics hard to tell if it needs any work, but people usually put paste on smoothed strop. My CrO bench strop is the rough side of the leather up and it works fine for me as well.

Understood. By the feel of it, the 'sharpen' side is definitely a coarser piece of leather.

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Originally Posted by brooksie967

Excellent. What about the 'sharpen' and 'finish' sides?? What should be the final grit used on each?

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A lot of old strops that were double leather strops had 'sharpen' on the side that had had some sort of treatment applied to it. Quite a few manufacturers impressed a very fine abrasive into the surface of the leather - Carborundum Co., Roma, Kropp, Scorcher etc, - by putting the leather between rollers with enough force to push the grit in. This type often feel like harder leather on the sharpen side because the act of rolling it under pressure does in fact compress the leather and harden it. They used to hammer boot sole leather for this reason. You could buy a refreshing paste that had the abrasive suspended in it for applying to the strop when it glazed up. If you want to keep a 'sharpening' side then use something like chrome oxide on it, but remember to only do five - 10 laps and keep it taut. Then finish on the 'finish' side after wiping off the blade to avoid cross-contamination.

Regards,
Neil

So up to 2k on the stropping side, what about the side i want to apply paste to??

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Originally Posted by brooksie967

So up to 2k on the stropping side, what about the side i want to apply paste to??

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try 600 if it does not work well, go up and reapply the paste.

Different leathers require different techniques so it's impossible to say, I'm afraid - you will just have to try.

Assess the leather first - skin side and flesh (rough) side. If you start with a very coarse grit (don't use ordinary sandpaper - it sheds a lot of particles, use something like used garnet paper or used wet-and-dry paper) you will remove the smooth skin layer completely. That's OK if you want a 'napped' surface, but not OK if the flesh side is fibrous enough to make it roll-up into little 'nubs' as you use it. If the wrinkles/scratches on the finish side aren't impacting on stropping I wouldn't sand it - if it isn't broken, don't fix it! Just condition it instead. First port of call would be saddle soap worked well in with a wet cloth and perhaps 'rolled' with a marble rolling pin or very stout seamless bottle to get it a bit more even, then wipe away the residue of the surface and buff it with a slightly damp cloth. Saddle soap contains both oils and glycerine, so this is as good as applying a light oiling to the strop, and much more manageable - let it thoroughly dry, perhaps under weights, before using or you will skew your assessment of the draw.

If you are thinking of oiling the strop to increase the draw (ie, add more drag or resistance) then sit back and carefully consider this fact - it is easy to over-oil, but very difficult and sometimes impossible to remedy over oiling.

If the finish side does need sanding, I would start with a high grit, perhaps 800 or so, to see what the effect is, then go down if it needs (and can take) more sanding, then work your way back up again.

If you are pasting the 'sharpen' side then all it needs is to be flat - a fine nap helps hold the chrome oxide, for instance.

Regards,
Neil

I agree with the approach that Neil Miller suggests. Use the least aggressive method first. It is easier to recover from! :)