I bought this a while back on the Hobbyist Classified forum. It's a beautiful 3" strop but it has a few wrinkles, because of this I have just never used it. Any suggestions for getting these out? I tried saddle soap and lather to try to soften it, tried rubbing it the edge of the counter ...nothing seems to phase it.
Wrinkles in the strop?
- Thread starter CountZer0
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It looks like that strop was rolled up, stropping surface inside, and it folded at some point. Those wrinkles are not going to give up easily if at all. You could try to fold the strop very gently the other way exactly where those fold lines are; it won't erase them but it may help flatten them out so they don't feel like a speed bump when you use the strop.
You could always sand the entire surface until you go through the wrinkled surface and below. It might need a touch (very small) of fat after that but it will still work perfectly as a strop. Inside of every strop are almost countless layers of new strops underneath.
It is a nice looking piece of hide and it looks plenty thick enough to get a new strop out of it maybe 1/32" below the present surface. Hand sanding is OK but a flat orbital sander works to randomize the scratch pattern and cuts into the leather much, much faster.
Brian
You could always sand the entire surface until you go through the wrinkled surface and below. It might need a touch (very small) of fat after that but it will still work perfectly as a strop. Inside of every strop are almost countless layers of new strops underneath.
It is a nice looking piece of hide and it looks plenty thick enough to get a new strop out of it maybe 1/32" below the present surface. Hand sanding is OK but a flat orbital sander works to randomize the scratch pattern and cuts into the leather much, much faster.
Brian
When resurfacing leather, does the smooth side always remain the smooth side? Is it possible to turn the suede side into a smooth side?
Edit; I think I answered my own question by reading other strop posts. Resurfacing the smooth side eventually gives a split hide. I assume a split hide is virtually the same on both sides.
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Right- I mean it has to be that way. Once a hide is split, it really does not make any difference which 'side' you pick up as you are now using the inside of the leather anyway.
The same would apply to sanding away the surface; either side could be sanded and the surface left would be the middle.
In the end, there is no reason why someone could not sand down the inside of, say, an English Bridle strop and end up with two stropping surfaces, one the original E.B. and the other being similar to Russian leather. In fact I do not know if there is any difference at all on the inside of an E.B. hide vs. a split hide?
Brian
The same would apply to sanding away the surface; either side could be sanded and the surface left would be the middle.
In the end, there is no reason why someone could not sand down the inside of, say, an English Bridle strop and end up with two stropping surfaces, one the original E.B. and the other being similar to Russian leather. In fact I do not know if there is any difference at all on the inside of an E.B. hide vs. a split hide?
Brian
The surface of the leather itself doesn't look bad. I'd say just use it rather than resorting to more drastic measures. Can't be any worse than a stamped area with the manufacturer's name.
- Thread starter
- #6
I tried just using in as is and I can't swear to it but I think it has made my blade worse. Using the HHT before stropping resulted in a good HHT3 after stropping with the wrinkles it barely passed. Took it to my Tony Miller and got a HHT3-4. As far as stamped area ... i never strop over the stamped area so i don't know.
The wrikles aren't apparent on the back so i may try to sand that side as smooth as possible and see how well that works. It it works then it should be same on the other side once i sand out the wrinkles.
Thanks again for the help,
Jason
The wrikles aren't apparent on the back so i may try to sand that side as smooth as possible and see how well that works. It it works then it should be same on the other side once i sand out the wrinkles.
Thanks again for the help,
Jason
I still wouldn't touch that surface. Maybe hand rub it with a couple of drops of neat's-foot oil smeared across your palm. If you want to play around with sanding, go to McMaster-Carr and order a vegetable-tanned piece of hide and go from 80x on up with it instead. The effect there is like creating Russian leather.
If you hold the strop as if it had a barber's end, ignoring the rings and cupping the bottom end with your off-hand so that the surface becomes somewhat convex there along the length, you can minimize surface irregularities to some extent.
Edit: I just did a search for "Petrzelka" and it turns out that he's a member here on B&B. Nothing like asking the strop-maker himself!
If you hold the strop as if it had a barber's end, ignoring the rings and cupping the bottom end with your off-hand so that the surface becomes somewhat convex there along the length, you can minimize surface irregularities to some extent.
Edit: I just did a search for "Petrzelka" and it turns out that he's a member here on B&B. Nothing like asking the strop-maker himself!
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Just curious but can you feel the razor skipping over those fold divots when stropping? They look pretty deep in the photos but it is hard to judge something like that using pictures.
Brian
Brian
I would try dampening the area of a wrinkle, lay the wrinkle side down on a flat hard surface, and 'bone' the rough side with the bottom of a bottle or glass.
Try putting a damp towel over it and use a clothing iron to iron out the wrinkles.
- Thread starter
- #11
I tried getting it wet and "bone-ing" it with a glass, and then put a damp towel and ironed it. It does look much better however the wrinkles are still there. I sent a PM to dpetrzelka the maker of this fine strop to see if I could purchase another. I appreciate all the help!
Regards,
Jason
Regards,
Jason
CountZerO - As soon as I get another batch of my leather, I can set you up with a new piece to get you stropping again.
Do you know if the wrinkles were the result of folding the strop or did these result from normal stropping?
Do you know if the wrinkles were the result of folding the strop or did these result from normal stropping?
I received a strop that had some pretty deep wrinkles and over time with stropping they slowly evened out. Personally I'd just give it a spin. When dragging a trailing edge of a razor across it I highly highly doubt it could do any damage
Try washing the strop with saddle soap and then lettingit dry over night. When its completely dry, use a glass coke bottle and roll it over the smooth side. Try applying baseball glove oil when your done and let it sit for a day or so.
What I recently did to my creased strop was lightly sand it with 300 sandpaper, just because it helps soak the water into the leather. then dunked it in the sink for 20 minutes, pat dried with a clean towel then boned it with a glass jar or stainless steell coffee mug. I did this twice to my leather strop im making and it took care of the creases, be careful though you can actually make the leather crooked? if this happens like it did to mine. I added my hardware to the leather while still wet and hung an 8lb dumbell to the end to help straighten it out. I know its a lot of work for a strop, but I got a really good deal on a 1/4" thick (give or take) piece of beautiful tanned leather, needless to say it isnt as beautiful as far as the color goes but im happy with it. Good Luck with your strop.
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Time to clean out your mailbox, Daniel. I tried to write to you but it was full.
Alum of Potash - My inbox should now be open.
I had a big crease in this strop and fixed it by wetting it and running a bottle over it on a flat surface. There was a little bit of a rough surface on part of the bottle that I didn't notice at first and it wore the strop a bit in some places. But the overall job was good and the crease is gone.
I had one that was folded on d the wrong way. No amount of lotion has been able to save it. So far neither has sanding. I ll have to try deeper until the crease is no more.
