What makes a good strop?

[Jason01]

Ive made myself a couple of strops, like this



That one still needs finishing off and I think its a bit long, Ive used veg tanned shoulder from a cow, I'll wet it and burnish the stropping surface flat with a glass cylinder then oil it with neats foot, I further flattened the other one I made with wet and dry but, really, I dont know what to aim for. Ive made my first two out of fairly thin leather, 2-3mm when finished and theyre quite soft once oiled.

They seem to work ok but Im not sure how much draw to aim for, what kind of surface finish is best, should they be stiff or soft and I wonder what the UK equivalent of Latigo is? I have seen nice quality harness leather that is heavily oiled but it usually has a glossy surface finish. So, what qualities should we aim for in a good strop?

[Tony Miller]

Nice job! Be careful with the wet burnishing that you do not create too slick a surface. It is easy to almost polish it to a high gloss when wet burnishing.

While some of the harness/bridle leather have a waxy surface like Latigo I don't find them stable enough. They seem to want to cup quite easily and will not use them.


Tony

[Jason01]

Thanks Tony, sooner or later I'll have to stop being a cheapskate and buy one of yours so that I can actually handle a good strop.

Regarding the burnishing, this is one of the (many) areas that confuses me, I was aiming for a smooth surface, as we might lap a hone for good contact with all of the blade edge and I thought I could add some draw with oils/wax. The veg tanned leather that I already have was bought for sheath making, its nice stuff to work with, the surace skin side finish is already quite smooth but it has a definite grain, I thought it would be beneficial to smooth out the grain. The strop in the picture above is untreated by me and in that state the skin side has no draw at all, the other one I made has some draw now that it has been oiled.

Would it be better to use the raw unfinished backside of the hide rather than the slightly glazed skin side? The shoulder that I cut the strop in the picture from is too soft and fluffy on the back but I have some nice 5mm that is very firm and tight on the back.

[kahunamoose]

I too make my own. The last one I made is a leather that looks a lot like yours pictured, but a little harder/smoother finished. I have not put neats foot oil on this one like I usually do. The draw is fairly high and it strops very nicely. I’d just use yours as is and see if you like it. You can always oil and or polish later if you don’t get the desired results.