I made me a couple of Stropping Straps

During my 2 week sojourn in the loving bosom of family over the Christmas break, I got bored (as you do).

So I ventured out one sunny morn to the shop of a local purveyor of leathery goods and services. It is a great little shop actually. They not only make standard leather items like wallets and saddles and belts etc, but they also do leather art. And, the shopkeep is a fine gent, always up for a chat if he is not too busy.

Anyway, I wandered in and got talking. Mentioned strops and razors, asked what he would suggest in the way of leather for such an item. Blow me down if he didn't turn around and show me a paddle strop that they use on the fine cutting instruments for their leather art!

Well, to cut a long story short, I bought me a piece of that there leather. Just straight up cowhide, but a nice creamy colour and very supple. Quite thick actually - had some trouble getting eyelets long enough to fit through it. I got a 1.2 meter long by 3" wide piece, for 20 AUD.

Not really knowing what I was doing, but having seen a strop of two before, I decided that I would make two strops out of it. So I cut it in half.....Yes, radical, I know, but that is the kinda guy I am.

I am also a lazy guy, with a short attention span. So I simply whacked a couple of holes in the top of each piece, put eyelets through one piece and bolted a couple of picture hooks through the other piece for easy attachment to doorknobs or towel rails etc. I left the handle end untouched - I just hold the leather to keep them taut.

At some stage in the future if I feel the need I can tart them both up a bit by adding handles or whatever. But for now, they work great. The leather is excellent, very supple, and because of its thickness (4mm) and putting two load points on the top, they do not cup. They are nothing flash, but they do the job.

Dimensions are: 22" long X 3" wide X 3/16" thick

Cost per strop: 12.50 AUD.

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James.

Those should do the trick for years to come.Nice work.

look great to me!

Thanks lads! Like I said, they are nothing flash. But I am really pleased with how they work. The leather is great for stropping on. Just enough draw, and nice and supple.

If you are on a budget and/or new and not sure about forking out a lot of cash for a strop initially, making a very basic strop like these could be just the ticket.

James.

Nice work James!!

Nice work Jimbo, I wondered if anyone else out there made their own strops (other than tony, of course)

My favorite is one I made myself from a strip of latigo. Had it since day 1 shaving with a straight, has 3 small nicks in it. You really feel it when you nick one you made yourself. :p

Dave:

I noteice from your profile you live in Surrey.

Where did you get the latigo strip you are using for a strop? I am a newbie (about to start with straight razors after a year of DE shaving) and am lookignto make my own strop. I live in Richmond BC and am hoping for somewhere local.

Barry

Very nice, mate. Hope you enjoy using it for years to come!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bman40

Dave:

I noteice from your profile you live in Surrey.

Where did you get the latigo strip you are using for a strop? I am a newbie (about to start with straight razors after a year of DE shaving) and am lookignto make my own strop. I live in Richmond BC and am hoping for somewhere local.

Barry

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For Barry and anyone else interested, I got the leather from Tandy Leather Factory, in Surrey BC.
tandy leather surrey bc - Google Maps

A few rivets and a metal ring for a handle and you're good. :) Just don't ask the clerk's there about anything straight razor related, They mean well but they don't understand much about stropping. :p They told me strops are only needed for sharpening, and they recommended a strip of rough leather and some "Jewelers Rouge" (which I later searched online to find was roughly 6micron). Said it works great, "it's what they sharpened their shop knives on". :w

Great minds, Jimbo!
Take a look at the end of my homemade strop.

Is that purple latigo?

Ha!
That's what you get when you just bang out a photo from the computer's camera in dim light. The red latigo got a bit altered by the flash.

Well done Jimbo. :tu Out if boredom comes creativity :D

Must be '100th monkey effect' but just finished mine yesterday.
2" side heavily pumiced & 2.5" side slick for finishing.

Nice looking strop Jimbo. Do you like handles at all? The day I venture making my own strop, I would like to have a handle. Any plans to incorporate canvas?

Al raz.

I like the one to the right! Where did you find those bushings or whatever they are called?
My next strop just might be a homemade one.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by flyboy

I like the one to the right! Where did you find those bushings or whatever they are called?
My next strop just might be a homemade one.

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They are called grommets. You can find them in just about any hardware store.

Nice work, all of you! I really like these, thanks for adding the pics, too - really interesting to see what others are doing.
I hope I'm not going too far off topic with this question, but generally are most of the strops being home-made in wider widths like 3", or is there any consensus -- ie "wider is better", etc. I'm still just using the dovo travel strop my SWMBO gave me along with my razor so not sure how wide of a strop to get when I get or make myself a "real" strop.

I've also read about strops cupping - is it the thickness of the strop or the width or just the tanning method that determines if a strop will be succeptible to cupping?
Can one be home-made in such a way to minimize the chance of cupping?

I guess I bombarded someone elses thread with questions, hope it's ok.

Wider can be more prone to cupping technically, but mostly it depends on the type of leather, the hide itself and where and how it is cut. Hide rolled a certain way tends to put a memory into the leather which may come back once cut in a strip that is not seen in the full side. Vegtable tanned leathers often absorb moisture from the air unevenly between skin side and flesh side and cup. Wide hardware will distribute the load from pulling on the strop, helping to control cupping while under tension but will do little to control normal, moisture related cupping as it really only stiffens the first few inches at each end.

I decided to use Latigo years ago for two reasons, it has a heavier draw than plain vegtable tanned leather and the oils and waxes tend to slow moisture attraction so the strop tends to stay flatter. It also makes it more supple so it can be molded back to flat. Latigo is just as prone to the inherent cupping/curl from rolling the hide as any other leather though.

Nice work on the various projects too guys. While all strop designs are somewhat similar I see that everyone put there own unique style into theirs. Grommets, different types of dees, various end cap designs, rivets, screws, etc....

Tony

Is the 3" vs. 2.5" vs 2.25" width just a preference then? Is one width the "most popular", or are there "traditional barber's width" vs. "traditional home-use strop" widths? I definitely feel like the dovo travel strop I have is too narrow, but feel like I'd either love a big wide strop of 3" or hate it/feel awkward with it -- no middle ground and no real way (for me at least, unless there's a get-together) to "test drive" various strop widths before purchasing...

Can you buy the traditional hardware or "replacement" hardware for a strop, or is it all a do-it-yourself situation like pretty much all of the photos above?

Cool thread here, hope to see more pics!

If you search for vinatge strops on ebay, or look at what is found in antique stores it seems that 2 1/2" was pretty much an American traditional width. Most of the European offerings, even today range from 1 1/2" to 2" with the 2" being the most plentiful.

I myself prefer the 2 1/2" width, if for no other reason the proportion of length to width just looks right. 2" strops have suddenly become very popular but here design is a tradeoff. Proprotionally they ought to be a bit shorter to provide a balanced look but users want strops as long as they can get them. On a 3" I feel 17" or so of usable length with additional grip or handle length is a good length, same on a 2 1/2". On a 2" though, for me at least 15" or so of usable length works and looks good. Being narrower they have a little less side to side stiffness which affect stability a little so shorter would be my ideal but 17" will still work well.

Longer and wider is not always better when it comes to strops as there is more to consider than just having leather as wide as the blade. Thickness, stiffness, etc....all play in and each factor affects the next. Pretty much anything one can beg, borrow or steel can be made into a very usable strop that will perform just fine but fine tuning the features can make it perform even better.

Tony, currently iced in in Baltimore!