[quote quote=“Buford T Justice” post=14037]I have read on the forums that the leather strops work best when sort of tacky, and that a little paste goes a long way. I know I’ve put plenty of paste on the strops. When I first put the paste on they are too wet and there is no friction. After a short time they start to fell right, but they quickly get dry and lose their sticktion. I’ve tried putting on the paste and letting it sit over night, but the next day the strops are dry, slick and hard. I’ve tried using a little alcohol as I have seen suggested, but that just seems to dry them out more.
Suggestions?[/quote]
How are your results? That is the important part!
At most you may have to adjust your technique as the leather gets harder. The work that is being done by the strops, when using pastes or sprays, is for the most part done by the abrasives. If you have a good coat of abrasives and your blades are getting sharp, you have nothing to worry about.
Clay has mentioned that he likes more friction between the strop and blade one a few occasions. This fits his technique, or at least what he was doing at that particular time. It does not mean that this is the only way that the strops can be used effectively.
If you need to get the strops back to feeling closer to new, the only way that I have found is to “lap” them with sand paper to remove the old abrasive and expose fresh leather. I would not use any vegetable oil on leather as any of them will oxidize over time, which you don’t want to happen. A good leather treatment/preservative would be better. I would avoid anything with silicon in it, as this will likely make the strops slick.
I have been using this for years and like it:
https://www.obenaufs.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=18
I use it on many leather items, but tend to use Lexol for leather in cars because it has some cleaning ability.
For items like boots gloves and yes … strops, I put the oil on and put the item in the oven at about 125 degrees until it is all absorbed, then do it again, until no more conditioner is absorbed into the leather.
For strops, it might worth trying the conditioning route, at least a few times, but at some point it will be better to just replace the leather. I have found that this Bark tanned leather from Handamerican sold by Woodcraft, works very well fro the WEPS strops:
http://www.woodcraft.com/catalog/productpage2.aspx?prodid=8620
It is a bit expensive when you think you can buy complete horse butts for $12, but it is nice and smooth and consistent so you don’t have to mess with finishing it. One piece will make a bunch of WEPS strops.
Keep in mind the way I started this… if your strops are working for you … you have learned how to use them the way they are, and you are getting good results, maybe you should not agonize over the situation!