Thread: Making a Paddle Strop

I've got a nice piece of Latigo leather in the form of a practice strop from Tony Miller, and since I'm not using it, I'd like to turn it into a paddle strop. I've got some white oak flooring left over from a project that I can glue together and put through the planer, but I don't know what kind of glue to use. Is plain rubber cement OK to use? Any better ideas?

Thanks!

I used plain old white Elmer's glue on mine. It worked and I've been using them for about two years now with no trouble.

-Pary

Originally Posted by TULIP

I've got a nice piece of Latigo leather in the form of a practice strop from Tony Miller, and since I'm not using it, I'd like to turn it into a paddle strop. I've got some white oak flooring left over from a project that I can glue together and put through the planer, but I don't know what kind of glue to use. Is plain rubber cement OK to use? Any better ideas?

Thanks!

I have three red oak paddle strops almost finished and used contact cement to attach the leather and balsa. The balsa one is on the left.

bj

Elmer's is fine, but requires clamping until the glue is dry and introduces some extra moisture into the wood. Shoemakers use Barge contact cement because it's fast and just requires hammering for a very durable bond. Were I making a paddle strop, I'd use a non-water based contact cement and after placing the leather on the paddle, I'd take a rolling pin and lean on it as I rolled the leather against the paddle to make sure there was 100% contact between the leather and the wood.

One recommendation I have is that you glue leather to both the top and bottom surfaces so that the moisture uptake or release from the wood paddle is uniform on both sides. If you put leather on only one side it likely will create an imbalance in how ambient moisture is dealt with by the wood. The side that can pick up moisture faster will grow faster than the opposite side and create a cupped surface on the other side. It may not be much, but it probably will be enough to screw up how the razor gets honed.

Hope this helps, Bruce

Thanks for the feedback.

I'd planned on sealing the wood to avoid swelling, and 2Sharp, mine won't be as pretty as yours, but you've inspired me to add a handle. I was just going to lay it on a table to use.

Heres one I am working on.

You may wish to make a bench-hone instead. I used a piece of machine-flattened marble tile. A new marble or granite tile costs $5. Having access to a tile-cutter may be an issue. After that I just used some generic contact cement and have been using the bench hone for a couple of years.

I purchased a scrap of red latigo, and was wandering which side to use the shiny side or the dull fuzzy side, on my dovo strop the dull side is up?

This is almost off topic at this point but I found Weldbond white glue to be very effective at attaching leather to wood. Also I use the smooth side up for finishing, I know things are getting sharp when it almost feels like the razor is suctioned to the strop, (some call this the "draw" I believe).
G
I'm a noob so take technical commentary with a grain of salt.