My latest home made strop

I still had a strip of leather from the shoe store from the time I bought some when my belt finally shredded. I do have a strop made by Tony but I wanted to make this one into a decent 2nd. starting dimensions of the leather was 29"x2.75". finished strop is about 25"X2.75"with about 21.5 length usable space on both linen and leather sides.

Before you laugh, keep in mind that I don't have the tools that Tony has. This strop was cut, formed and finished with an exacto knife, pakistani razor, flat head screw driver, nail set (used as punch), ball ping hammer, and a solder iron (to burn through when the nail set didn't make the hole big enough). Comments, Critiques welcome. The leather is still wet from Lexol.

Special thanks Tony, for selling me the hardware to make this into an actual strop. Doesn't compare to yours I know but at least now I have a bonified backup.

http://www.procis.net/Razors/DSC01246.JPG

http://www.procis.net/Razors/DSC01247.JPG

http://www.procis.net/Razors/DSC01249.JPG

Looks stroppy to me. It'll be perfect for a pasted strop or for those romantic evenings when you need a little leather and chains.


Good job.


Matt

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Originally Posted by shavethebadger

Looks stroppy to me. It'll be perfect for a pasted strop or for those romantic evenings when you need a little leather and chains.


Good job.


Matt

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Yea, I don't think I'll be doing the chains and leather bit. She hits too hard ;).

Actually, it looks really nice. I may want to do something similar with the hardware I'd dismantle from the Pakistani. What kind of leather was it (so I'd know what to ask for when I go into the shoe repair shop) and where did you get the linen? I have one coming in from Tony, but having a travel strop would sure be nice, so even if I forget mine in a hotel washroom like SOME people :hmmm:, at least it wouldn't be a Tony Miller piece :D

Nice job FUD ! (I'd better get those patent drawings of mine filed quick!) <g>.

Tony

I can hear Tony sweating all the way in Utah. Nice job.

RT

Way to go Glen! Keep up the good work. Lynn

Glen, it looks great. You had more courage than me. I was thinking of making my own and then chickened out and asked Tony to do it.

You should be proud of the results.

Thanks all,

I appreciate it. In person it doesn't hold a candle to Tony's.

FS, the linen is actually over 50 years old. I bought it from a local tarp store. He had this roll of cotton linen that was 1 meter wide that had been sitting in his shop since his dad started it. He cut off the linen per my requests and the wife sewed the edges with upholstry thread. I chose this route after not being able to find all cotton loadstrap rolls. It's like canvas shoe material on major steroids. I used pulled leather and had to re cut it after I bought it so it would be squared and consistent. It's no where near the quality Tony uses. It was just what was quickly available when I needed a quick fix.

The trouble I see with this leather is that it's not uniformly pressed. It looks good but when you strop the razor you can see parts that are not hitting on the leather. This gradually decreases with use (very gradual). I've tried rolling a quart jar over the strop. It helps but doesn't seem to get rid of all the uneven spots. my next thought was a steam roller from a paving company ;).

Thanks again Tony for selling me the hardware. I hope I'm not taking business from you. I was just excited about what I made.

Glen F

Glen,
Not a problem. I don't mind helping a few guys with their own projects. I've got a few new strops posted and in the works as well as a few new wholesale prospects locally and on the net.

Tony

Nice job FUD! Let us know how it works. That's the puddin' where the proof is.

X

You call that a strop?!? It looks like is was...

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cut, formed and finished with an exacto knife, pakistani razor, flat head screw driver, nail set (used as punch), ball ping hammer, and a solder iron (to burn through when the nail set didn't make the hole big enough).

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Seriously, Glen, it looks great!

Glen,

That's a great job. Let us know how it works with the razor.

Ed

Thanks again all.

I've been stropping my razors with this strop and it seems to be doing really well. There's a few small areas where you can see where the leather isn't even. Rolling a quart jar over it didn't take all of this out but it improved it. Lexol is keeping it supple.

It's not as nice as tony's strop but it's a good 2nd. I already know the linen does really well. It's from the same bolt that I put on the emergency strop I made with the grommets. That strop did really well with the same slight depressions in some of the leather.

Glen F