Thread: Linen Substitute....why?

This is a great thread.
For some time Ive been pondering, fabricating a linen strop for my Lipshaw Microtome strops, of which I have 5 units. Ive made a felt panel, photo below

but really want linen panels. My first obstacle was the material couldn't find the proper weight linen. I like the baker's Couche idea a lot. Just bought a Coche blanket and what I'll try to do is double up the thickness and sew the two ends together turn inside out and crimp the rivets. Will send photos once I get the blanket in and put together.
Once again great thread.

Originally Posted by MisterMoo

There are some weavers who make heavy fiberglass, Kevlar, Nomex and Spectra tubular webbing in 3" widths

I wonder how kevlar would work as a strop material ? I guess if it were worth the effort someone would've tried.

Trouble with raw edges (compared to selvage edges) is the fabric loses stability. Razor-whooping on linen with raw edges would probably open up the weave and allow the warp and fill to wander. No selvage edge or other type of stabilization sounds like a mechanical shortcoming for a strop.

How about gluing the very edge ? A thin layer just to seal the edge ?