Thread: Redneck Strop

The latest installment on my DIY, improvised, inexpensive (redneck) shaving gear: the strop. For those of you just joining us, I have already done soap, aftershave, badger brush, and scuttle. Now the only thing left is the razor itself

The following pix were taken in a rush, so I apologize for the bad photography in advance. Most of the parts were purchased from a hardware store, the d-rings and leather is from Tandy. (I live near Ft. Worth)

the tools (except the headset), the finished strop

detail of d-ring, macro shot of leather grain

Conclusions:

1. you might notice there are a few sets of hole in the end of this thing. apparently leather this thick is not very flexible, took some trial and error to find the right spacing.
2. notice the rougher grain of the leather. I took this into account, some mink oil is soaking in it right now, then I'm going to go after it with a pumice stone to see if that smooths it up a bit.
3. those d-rings are !@#$%^ heavy... next time find a better attachment. seriously, they feel like they weigh a pound and a half EACH.
4. final dimensions are 3" wide by almost 3' long... HUGE. won't have to do such a steep x-pattern anymore. (my old strop is 1.5" wide, some crappy thing that came with my col. conk set)
5. holes were made with a 3/16" drill. no hole punches would even dent this thing.
6. total cost per strop was about 25-30 bucks, not including tools. (I made 2)
7. as always, questions, comments and suggestions greatly appreciated!

You need a hammer driven punch set, tandy sells them for less than ten bucks, I'm betting you have th epliers type. The hammer driven ones are lots easier to use when punching saddle leather.

I also like pure Neatsfoot oil (tandy brand) for dressing the raw leather on a hanging or loom strop.


Good work!!

Originally Posted by Wildtim

You need a hammer driven punch set, tandy sells them for less than ten bucks, I'm betting you have th epliers type. The hammer driven ones are lots easier to use when punching saddle leather.

I also like pure Neatsfoot oil (tandy brand) for dressing the raw leather on a hanging or loom strop.


Good work!!

yeah, I tried the plier ones at the Tandy shop and they didn't do squat, I'll look into one you hammer. thanks

Tandy? I was told they stopped doing business years ago. After reading your post, I looked them up online and lo and behold, they're all over the place! Thank you for mentioning them!

Originally Posted by leadduck

Tandy? I was told they stopped doing business years ago. After reading your post, I looked them up online and lo and behold, they're all over the place! Thank you for mentioning them!

yeah, they're still around, but after the customer service experience I had with them, I'll never be doing business with them again. I can't recommend it.

I've never ordered through their website so I can't comment on that.

Their stores are fairly loosely franchised so your experience will vary depending upon the owner of the store you go to and their intrests. The one nearest me is heavily into figural carving and making som incredible art there they are truely experts. Ask them about the more practicle things like holster or saddle construction and you are on your own.

Originally Posted by Wildtim

I've never ordered through their website so I can't comment on that.

Their stores are fairly loosely franchised so your experience will vary depending upon the owner of the store you go to and their intrests. The one nearest me is heavily into figural carving and making som incredible art there they are truely experts. Ask them about the more practicle things like holster or saddle construction and you are on your own.

yeah, the one south of ft. worth that i went to had some kind of leather carving museum attached to it, pretty amazing stuff, indeed. still can't recommend it.