Thread: New Strop

It is not everyday I get excited about a strop but today was different. I had decided to treat myself to a first class strop which arrived from Neil Miller this afternoon, a hanging 3 inch shell cordovan leather and linen strop. What more can I say that hasn't already been said about his work? More than happy with the quality and looks. I stropped tomorrows razor with it and found it a different experience from the 3 inch English bridle leather and hard felt strop I had been using. Yea, definitely a treat.

Bob

Wow, I really like the padded handles. Looking real classic.

Beautiful strop, Bob.
I've disciplined myself to wait on a Neil Miller strop until my car is paid off, it's paid off in August.
I've got to have somewhere to put the savings , ,so instead of giving my money to the Japanese (Toyota),
I'm gonna give it to the English (Neil).

For many years I thought leather is leather, so why dish out the extra cash on these higher end strops. Granted, a cheaper strop will still do a fine job. But after comparing the quality of my edges on various strops, I truly find my razors to be sharper and smoother when stropped on a finer higher grade leather. This may sound outrageous to some, but I get a wickedly sharp edge when stropping my razor on the palm of my hand.

In my personal experience, the second best investment in a straight razor shavers arsenal after the straight razor is the strop.

May this fine strop give you many years of excellent service. I have two Kanayama strops on the way, one vintage the other new, can't wait to try them out.

Simply brilliant strop. Neil's work is museum quality and as seriously effective as a strop can be.

I also have been looking at Neil Miller's strops and admiring them for some time. But as still (and possibly forever) a newbie, I'm looking at the thinness of the shell and thinking of the now large collection of nicks, mostly small, one so large that I have to shorten up the stroke to miss it as It could not be repaired. So I'm thinking someone should move up through the ranks of strops and when you have reached a point where you have stropped for a year or so without wounding your strop and you have the coin, go for something like Neil's strops. They are beautiful and Neil seems like a cool guy from the posts of his I have read. If someone gave me a NM strop I would put it away for awhile and maybe hack at a Big Daddy now that the effective stropping length of my little 2" strop is about 10 inches. Anyway, this is not about me....awesome strop.

WW243

You are right on the button on all counts and I could not agree more. Firstly, Neil Miller is an absolute gentleman to deal with and his work is first class. Secondly I would not recommend anyone getting this strop as a first strop for the same reasons that make you hesitant. I have been at this for slightly over a year and am confident enough in my stropping that I don't think I will do major damage to a strop here on out, but you never know for sure. I have not done any major damage to the only strop I have used, 3 inch bridle leather, and the damage I did I repaired. That strop is still fully serviceable BTW. As for the thinness of the shell cordovan leather seemingly making it more fragile, all I can say is the no leather strop regardless of type of leather used can withstand a shave ready razor that is mishandled. I suspect shell cordovan is tougher than it looks, that is at least on par with the other leather types.

Bob

Shell Cordovan, is a highly regarded leather, its fabrication process is very long and intense, mostly for high quality shoes, also used in archery where it is prized for its toughness, longevity, and protective qualities.
Here a video of the shell cordovan process:Horween Genuine Shell Cordovan on Vimeo