Restoring a strop?

P

Proinsias

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I picked up a loom strop on the bay, the leather is quite rough in places and there are some nicks. Can it be saved? I've heard of cleaning with saddle soap but I get the feeling this might take a little more, could I sand back the leather?
 
Yes, you should be able to sand back the leather and then use saddle soap. If there´s nicks that stand out you´ll get rid of them when sanding and if they´re deep it doesn´t matter. If it has been wrinkled you can use a bottle and roll on top of it, you may have to do that several times during several days. Neil´s your man when it comes to stuff like this though, you could PM him ...
 
Here's a few pics, the best I could manage with an old cameraphone:


I cleaned up the finishing side with some lather and a cloth then rolled a bottle over it for a bit. It's looking and feeling much better already. Any idea what level of grit I should start sanding at if it's savable.
 
What a nice paddle strop! I think you should be able to stretch the leather by turning the handle (and relax it, when not in use). I would try and get it back in shape by washing it and then, if dry, put on leather oil (I use Gold Qulity from Germany) and then sand it. If the leather cracks or something, it´s still possible to save and put on new leather. Important to get the leather back in shape before sanding, if it feels dry, I think.

It could be good to ask Neil aswell though.
 
I would sand it first then, clean it with saddle soap, I would be looking at 600 grit and see how he get along would not go too low to start. This way you will get most of the stuff off with sanding and the cleaning afterwards will catch any grit thats left, Then depending on how your leather is condition it after at the end when you are happy with the condition. if all else fails soak the leather and dry it so it stays straight.

If it all goes pete tong told you not to listen to me as I talk s***te :lol:
 
600 grit wasn't getting me anywhere fast, the 400 has brought the finishing side back to life, with the 600 to finish off. It now feels soft and nice to strop on before I move to latigo, Will get swmba to pick up some saddle soap the next time she's at the feed merchants.

Mikael said:
What a nice paddle strop! I think you should be able to stretch the leather by turning the handle (and relax it, when not in use).
Click to expand...

Thanks Mikael, yeah it does have a stretching mechanism and I've just noticed it looks very similar to the one in Neil's' guide:
<!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.theshavingroom.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=204">viewtopic.php?f=22&t=204</a><!-- l -->
He has it as a bench strop too but I was under the impression it was a loom strop.

Hopefully I can get this back to working order, I've been switching between a 6 inch bench strop and a 2ft hanging strop. This seems to be a nice middle ground.
 
Proinsias said:
Thanks Mikael, yeah it does have a stretching mechanism and I've just noticed it looks very similar to the one in Neil's' guide:
<!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.theshavingroom.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=204">viewtopic.php?f=22&t=204</a><!-- l -->
He has it as a bench strop too but I was under the impression it was a loom strop.
Click to expand...

No - you mis-read the guide. It is under paddles strops, because it is a type of paddle. The text from that part of the guide is:

Paddle Strops
As the name suggests, these are paddle-like and held in the hand with one end resting on a bench or similar. They may be constructed of a thin plank with leather glued to one or both sides (some have a balsa wood panel for pasting) or the leather may take the form of a belt stretched over a framework equipped with a mechanism for tightening it (which must be loosened again after use or the leather will be permanently stretched) - these are called "loom" or "french" strops. Some paddles have a padding to give the leather a bit of "give," some don't, and the loom strops can alter the amount of tension to suit the user.

Regards,
Neil (never knowingly misquoted) Miller
 
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