New Dovo strop restoration

[Straight up]

I just received this 'new' strop from the bay. As you can see it is nicked, stained and has a central lateral crease. I figure it shouldn't be too hard to get it into shape.

I plan on sanding it down with 600/800/1000 WD sandpaper to remove the nicks. The leather is super soft.

I'm too fussed about the stain, if I oil the strop it would probably disappear. I may just use my palm to condition it rather than add an oil or leather conditioner.

How do I remove the crease? Do I hang it and add 5kg to one end to stretch and straighten or maybe iron it!?

What would you do with it? Am I going down the wrong path?

 

[Jnatcat]

If that’s new I would not be happy unless it was a good deal.

 

[stone and strop]

Yep, that looks used.
The nicks look to be from flipping the razor and it catching.

 

[Straight up]

It was a good deal! The strop is just a throw in as far as I'm concerned. Stone and strop I agree it looks like the work of a newbie.

 

[McBlade]

Instead of ironing it use a rolling pin and wet the leather first. Really go to town on it as hard as you can for as long as you can. This is called "boning" and is supposed to bring more of the super-fine silicate abrasives in the leather up to the surface.

It might also help to flatten the crease out of the leather.

 

[stone and strop]

Is the crease you refer to the slight hump in the middle?

 

[McBlade]

PS: use contact cement to glue down the nicks before any sanding.

 

[Straight up]

McBlade, really! Isn't it too stiff, wouldn't you use a rummer cement that had flex? My aim would be to remove the top layer of leather where the small nicks are, then maybe dress the raw leather.

 

[LJS]

I’m not the biggest fan of removing all the top grain personally. The nicks you can normally shave off the offending part that stick up, and just sand that area to smooth it out. I think leaving the rest of the top grain is good if you can.

 

[Straight up]

I'm going to spot sand the nicks with 1000 WD paper and give the rolling pin method a shot at flattening the hump (stone and strop, yes in the middle just above the stain)

 

[stone and strop]

Humps are very hard to eradicate, especially after it has been stored with a sharp bend for any length of time.
Suspending with a little weight over some time helps and IMO its better that clamping it flat.
Regularly stretching/hand rubbing will help over time as well.
So long as you can still strop on it then just use it.

 

[Steve56]

Per Iwasaki’s book, wet the strop well, then place it between 2 flat boards to dry. i like some weight on the top board.

 

[Alum of Potash]

I would just strop with it as is. The nicks and spot don't look like they would do too much damage. And with continued use, the strop will be "trained" as to what to do.

 

[Straight up]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I have worked on it and it seems to be OK, I have started using it (about 3 times now). Alum, you are pretty much spot on.

I spot sanded the deep nicks and scratches with 600, 800, 1200 WD paper. The leather is really soft and the strop is very compliant, sanding down the whole surface may have reduced the surface quality hence the spot sanding. The 'crease' in the middle of the strop is a very minor issue because when you pull it taught during use, it disappears. Stropping as a right-hander means the tiny cuts don't open as the blade pushes them down during forward movement.

I didn't dress the leather with any chemicals and opting for the hand oils to keep it flexible ( rubbing the hand on before stropping). I'm not concerned about the discolouration on the surface, the strop will probably darken with my hand oils.

The strop is very small and this is not evident on the web site selling them (no measurements given). It's what I would consider as traveling strop because the usable area is 45mm x 270mm. It feels very nice in the hand and doesn't look cheap and nasty hanging in the bathroom. I wouldn't spend $95 US on one, instead I'd go for a Tony Miller (never had one, but they are wider and longer). I'll keep using it daily for a few months to see how it goes, but so far so good.