Strop treatments and "break-in"

proFeign · Post by **proFeign** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 11:52 pm

Howdy,

I just got a new Bergischer Lowe (sweet, thanks for the suggestions Chris et al) and a hanging strop for graduation and the leather is pretty stiff compared to my older Dovo russian leather strop.

This strop is here:

http://www.shavingshop.com/index.php?it ... egory%3D37

It's a tad stiff and the way it was rolled up made the leather side slightly longer than the linen side. Not a problem; the linen will stretch, surely, but the stiff leather doesn't feel right when stropping. Works OK but I think if it were a tad more supple it would be perfect. So nice to have 3" wide strop now... Much better than the narrow Dovo I have...

What can I treat it with that I have lying around my house? Vaseline sounds bad to me because it'll collect crap in it and be impossible to get off, but I'm not sure if the thing about the alcohol hand sanitizer stuff is right either for this strop... help!

Also where can I download a copy of Chris' manual? Which i hear is the ne plus ultra of info. I've read Leisureguy's manual, which was quite useful, but more info is seldom, if ever, a bad thing...

Post by **drmoss_ca** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 3:33 am

Congratulations! That strop would be best used untreated for a while - it has a very smooth surface and may never need any treatment. If it seems too smooth and you want more 'draw' a few drops only of the neat's foot oil that Tony sells will do the trick. Spread it around and rub it in. Don't use too much though. No more than will disappear into the leather with rubbing.

The Guide is available on the home page of this site. Read, learn and inwardly digest!

Chris

Heirphoto · Post by **Heirphoto** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 9:33 am

A little Neat"s Foot Oil will soften it and increae draw just a bit. Like Chris said, leave it alone a week or two first and see if you like the feel. The linen and leather can change slightly due to humidity and we just changed our design to eliminate this completely. If your develops a problem in this regard send me a PM and I'll give you the quick fix.

Even though John Crowley at Shaving Shop is the dealer on the one you bought they are my strops and I stand behind them 100%. I think John will be carrying the newest version from now on as well and are finishing the first batch this coming week.

Tony

proFeign · Post by **proFeign** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 12:34 pm

Heirphoto wrote:A little Neat"s Foot Oil will soften it and increae draw just a bit. Like Chris said, leave it alone a week or two first and see if you like the feel. The linen and leather can change slightly due to humidity and we just changed our design to eliminate this completely. If your develops a problem in this regard send me a PM and I'll give you the quick fix.

Even though John Crowley at Shaving Shop is the dealer on the one you bought they are my strops and I stand behind them 100%. I think John will be carrying the newest version from now on as well and are finishing the first batch this coming week.

Tony

Chris,

Thanks! I'll let it hang for a bit and I think I'll zip-tie a 2.5 lb mass to it so it equalizes the length of the linen and leather.

Tony,

I appreciate your apparent level of customer commitment; that is the sort of thing that makes me a customer for life. I was thinking, to get slightly more draw without chemicals, that I might disassemble it (Tony: nice touch!) and sort of "wave" or semi-roll and unroll the leather side. Is this bad or unnecessary?

It's a perfect leather suface but it was the stiffness and slipperiness that made me think it was one of the strops that falls into the "needs a complicated break-in routine" that one site claimed, but for any amount of money it seems to be the perfect size and is better-made (and better designed, with the mating screws) than the Dovo I have.

So should I 'maul' it by hand (leather only) for a little bit? Or moisten it? I have pure vitamin E oil but no neat's foot...

I'd be inclined to not use any products on it, so if hand alone (or "leave it alone!") is preferable let me know.

Also note that I am a super-newb with stropping but that I'm a mechanical engineer with extensive machining and fabrication and honing/sharpening experience, so technical or common-sense stuff about materials or processing will be clear enough to me... like "don't add a treatment to something before you know if you really need to" because that's a step that can't be undone.

proFeign · Post by **proFeign** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 12:40 pm

also would it be possible to buy another D-ring and set of screws and the two leather handles so that I could hold each surface separately? Like on

http://shop.thewellshavedgentleman.com/ ... tegoryId=2

Let me know via PM or email. e-mail is smf [at] fouronefive [] com

Bowcephalus · Post by **Bowcephalus** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 1:33 pm

Great strop....I have one....No dressing required.......30-40 light strokes before a shave does it.......back side ("Linen")is a little rough I don't use it much....

Heirphoto · Post by **Heirphoto** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 9:36 am

The quick fix is to dissassemble each end and with a razor make a slight slit at each end of the round holes in the linen material. reassemble, press out boith components with the hands until flat and retighten. Once acclimated they seem to stay put well.

On slightly later ones I slotted the linen with an oval punch during assemble to make adjustments easy.

It still bugs me any adjustments are needed, hence the new design as of late last week. All will have separate handles, either Dees or contoured leather ones from now on.

I will offer upgrades but the holes may not match from early to later strops so it's best done here if possible. Cost only of course plus shipping, and I will have details later on my website.

Thanks,
Tony

proFeign · Post by **proFeign** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 9:58 am

Heirphoto wrote:The quick fix is to dissassemble each end and with a razor make a slight slit at each end of the round holes in the linen material. reassemble, press out boith components with the hands until flat and retighten. Once acclimated they seem to stay put well.

On slightly later ones I slotted the linen with an oval punch during assemble to make adjustments easy.

It still bugs me any adjustments are needed, hence the new design as of late last week. All will have separate handles, either Dees or contoured leather ones from now on.

I will offer upgrades but the holes may not match from early to later strops so it's best done here if possible. Cost only of course plus shipping, and I will have details later on my website.

Thanks,
Tony

You sound like a perfectionist like myself... Thanks! The hanging with weights zip tied to the end seems to have equalized it pretty well. The dual-handle thing woudl be nice and I'll ship it out sometime in the near future. I have a dial caliper so I can tell you sizing on any hardware on mine...

k

Bowcephalus · Post by **Bowcephalus** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 4:19 pm

LMAO....I bet you guys fly fish......

proFeign · Post by **proFeign** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 5:55 pm

Bowcephalus wrote:Great strop....I have one....No dressing required.......30-40 light strokes before a shave does it.......back side ("Linen")is a little rough I don't use it much....

I don't fly fish but I'm learning knot tying... does that count?

Anyway "rough" doesn't equal "abrasive." I.e. the linen side will feel more "rough" (i.e. not flat) than 1200 grit sandpaper, but I promise the 1200 grit sandpaper will remove dozens of times more metal. I don't think the linen side does much removing (some, probably, as does the leather) but is probably much more effective than the leather at stripping off any remnants of a wire edge. I would try out the linen IIWY, since it's there for a reason. I think it "sharpens" a little while the leather primarily "shapes" or "aligns." Note that if you use the linen side you'll need lots of "quotation marks."

proFeign · Post by **proFeign** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 6:02 pm

a good check for abrasiveness is running your finger across something lightly and the more "sticky" it feels the more abrasive. This applies right up until something is nearly glass smooth then stickiness is no longer a reliable indicator. Also if it's sticky and then slippery and then it's sticky even after you remove your finger it means you've probably cut your finger open and are bleeding on it, and therefore the suface is abrasive.

1200+ grit sandpaper feels smooth but tacky/grabby and is abrasive.

Feel the linen, rough but slippery, thus not very abrasive, leather feels slippery - not abrasive. Any hone will feel kind of sticky or grabby and hence somewhat abrasive. Norton hones are surprisingly *not* flat but they feel somewhat slick but not totally slick, esp when wet and are finely abrasive. Coarse hones will feel rough *and* sticky.

proFeign · Post by **proFeign** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 6:05 pm

...and if you're like me you can feel a sandpaper or powder and guess the grit pretty easily, but then you have to make a wine snob type of assessment, e.g. "this is a 2000 grit Norton A weight paper, a good year, but somewhat agressive, with a hint of vanilla, smoky, with an aftertaste of silicon carbide. A fine vintage indeed."

Bowcephalus · Post by **Bowcephalus** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 8:47 pm

Yep...When I said "rough"I didn't mean "abrasive"......I am just used to the finer weave linen.....not so "bumpy"...."knowatImean"?....";)"........

proFeign · Post by **proFeign** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 6:01 pm

Bowcephalus wrote:Yep...When I said "rough"I didn't mean "abrasive"......I am just used to the finer weave linen.....not so "bumpy"...."knowatImean"?....";)"........

indeed!