Thread: Roo strop

Like eddy's mine is not 100% flat but it strops well, the leather would be around 1mm or possibly even less, i sanded the leather when I first got it as it was quite rough, i was concerned that it was too thin but it has served me well for the last 20 months.

Originally Posted by Substance

not SRD but my Roo is 0.8 to 1.2mm thick
mine is 30" x 3" & rolls up to about 1 1/2" diameter

mine doesn't cup as yet (8 months old) but if it did cup it would not matter much as the leather is very thin & subtle & it will flex to the shape of the razor very easily wile stropping

May I ask who manufactured your strop?

OK. I've ordered a Roo strop. It should be here by Friday I would guess. I'm looking forward to trying it out.

Originally Posted by UKRob

the roo has far more draw. .

Yes, horse hide in general is rather slick. It is my only real grievance with horse because it has no real feedback to speak of.

My roo strop(s) are about 6(longer?) years old, used daily, no problems besides my own screw ups. You won't find a more hard wearing leather out there, weight for weight. I've not experienced any cupping in the usual sense - it will curl sometimes but it's never permanent, just a temporary reaction to the forces you place on it.

You could do way worse than getting a roo strop.

James

Roo leather varies in draw. Some of the falconry grade roo hides are as slick as horse.
All leather that is broken in will have a slight increase in draw.

The strop arrived yesterday and saw its first use this morning. The finish of the strop is not like my English Bridle Leather. The English is glossy and slick. The Roo has a texture to it I guess is the best way to describe it. I was most interested to try this strop on some wedge grinds so this morning I used a 7/8 Wade & Butcher FBU. I was surprised at how much noise it made compared to the English leather and the draw was also very light in comparison. I liked the lighter draw. A totally different feel than the English Bridle.
It did its job as I got a super comfortable 3 pass shave. I'm curious how much the draw will change as the strop gets more use.

In my experience, not much. In fact, the earlier post about roo having much more draw than cordovan makes me think cordovan must be like stropping on greased leather. I can't imagine a lighter draw than my roo.

This is an interesting and thought provoking thread. I have two eighteen inch horse hide strops one is Horween shell cordovan the other is what Skip Horween called 'just north of Cordovan' it is literally the next piece of leather trimmed to give the hide a straight edge after they cut the shell off the rump.The difference in draw between the two strops could be described like the difference between a 4000 king hone and a 12000 Chinese waterstone.I have never used Roo , bridle or buffalo leather but if these are all that much different it makes me wonder if there would be sufficient gain to be made if one were to approach stropping like honing.Three or four strops starting with the heaviest draw,I have to wonder if there would be a noticeable difference or gain to be had on the razor to justify using three or even four strops of differing draw.
I can feel a test period coming on(well as soon as I can think of a way to justify the cost to the little woman eh.)

One of our Aussie members sent me a Roo Strop,, it's a little small & you need to be experienced to get the most out of it. It's got a lot of draw,,,, boy,, does it have draw!,,, just hook it to the bathroom door & strop away,,, the Roo strop even has a pocket to store your straight in, when your done.

Them Aussies really know how to make a strop,,,