If you are going to make one for applying pastes to a natural, vegtable tanned leather is best. Types with painted on coatings or sealers would let it absorb the pastes and they will quickly wear off the surface. On a bench hone or paddle thickness is not an issue as the wod or MDF provides the stiffness and the leather is just there as a holder for the paste. For this application sides or rump areas are fine. The neck area is usually filled with wrinkles and is discarded in my shop or becomes the $5 practice strops. Maybe a local saddle shop could provide a few scraps for you.

JScott is describing my MDF Bench Strops I used to make. These were MDF and very basic, really just a workshop tool, hence the low $20 something prices. The $40 soemthing paddles are from finished hardwoods with handles and have a lot more labor in them.

The bench strops may be back in a more refined form shortly but probably not in MDF because of the health risks associated with cutting and sanding this material, not to mention the pure mess it makes in the shop <g>

Tony

Tony