Originally Posted by
Euclid440
Denim will work for a while but will fray badly and become a pain.
Go to a fabric store or Wal Mart and pick up a yard of nylon or Poly strapping. Buy the finest weave you can and the widest width, probably 2 inches. Also pick up some fusing tape. Seat belt type weave is best, but any weave will work.
Fusing tape is an iron on glue, sold on wax paper in rolls or sheets, (fabric store). Pick up a couple 2- inch D rings from an Ace Hardware. Cut the strapping at 24 inches, that will give you a 20- inch strop, fold the ends over the D rings, cut a piece of fusing tape the size of the flap and iron on covering the nylon with a piece of cloth. Total cost should be under $6-8.
Attach a loop of para cord, leather or nylon boot lace as a hanger.
Fusing tape is super strong, and will bond, cloth, leather and nylon.
Then practice on the nylon strop. A nylon/Poly strop is almost impossible to cut with a razor when stropping and will give you a polish very similar to leather. Use the nylon until you get the hang of stropping.
Go slow and pay attention to the flip. Do not flip until you have stopped forward motion, this is where most strops are cut, the razor is moving forward as it is flipped and the edge bites the leather.
Once you get stropping down, you can buy good leather strop for about $50. A year of two later when you really get stropping down, buy a quality strop. Until you master the technique, a quality leather strop will not make a difference.