Thread: Jumping in with a question

Hi all. Been lurking and reading and getting things prepared to give straight razor shaving a try and have a question. I've read countless posts saying the new strops on eBay are generally junk (I'm talking about the ones they'll ship with the zeepk's, for example). I've also read numerous posts about people going into a Tandy leather shop, getting a piece of scrap and having a functional strop. Could someone explain two things to a newbie: What makes the eBay strops junk, and what would I look for and do to a piece of scrap leather to make it a functional strop? I'm going to be buying my first (currently looking at Tony Millers with the practice strop option) as I don't want to add the "Is this a junk strop" variable to the equation. There are enough variables to start with. Thanks.

When you compare the prices of the ones on ebay to one from Tony Miller, Don, Lynn, or one of the other reputable sellers you should ask yourself a few questions. Just how good can the quality of the ebay strop be? Do you want to use one of such bad quality on a razor that you can use for a lifetime? The Zeepk, Master, MasterUSA, etc., razors will not take an edge. They are so bad they aren't even worth using as a blade to develop one's honing skills. Just how good can one of their strops or hones be? They are junk, period!

I don't doubt for a second they're junk. What I'm trying to ask (and apparently not doing a good job of getting it across. My apologies.) is what makes them bad? Are they uneven, is the leather poor quality, etc? What makes for good leather? As I said above, people have posted about going into Tandy's scrap bin and coming out with a good strop. What makes scrap piece of leather A desirable over scrap piece B? I'm not DIYing my first strop, and definitely going to get it from a reputable source. I'm just looking for a little education.

I think the preparation of leather for a strop is important. The only thing I note about the Zeepk strops are that they are usually unprepared leather and very short. I think you'd be doing equally well buying a simple leather belt as you would buying a Zeepk or whatever. They are both NOT strops. I would think they both would work pretty similarly, although most belts I buy are pretty high quality leather.

If your really looking, for whatever silly reason, to save money shaving with a straight, I would:

Buy: 1) A cheap shave ready blade
2) .5 paste and a piece of balsa wood
3) Strop daily on flat newspaper


The newspaper performs much better then either a Zeepk strop or a plain leather belt. When I was in the military I stropped in the field on the side of a large rubber tire. That works better than both, assuming you don't mind going outside everyday.

You could also just learn to hone well enough that you never need to strop. I find stropping very over rated until you get to about the 4-5 shave off the hone and then its probably critical for most faces.

When I go to Tandy I am looking for leather that will yield a piece 2 ¾ to 3 inches wide, at least 16 inches long, hopefully in the 20 inch range. This is not including handles or fold over to accommodate handles. It should be soft enough that it is foldable. Swede or anything super soft is NOT what you want. Just a nice happy medium. I have also used very thick and stiff cowhide. This works, but not as nicely as the softer, thinner stuff. Other thing to look at is the finish. Hard and shiny is not that good for stropping. You do not want shellac type finish designer leathers. Rugged but finished leather works for me, but I know that might be a bit vague till you feel it in your hands.

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

If your really looking, for whatever silly reason, to save money shaving with a straight, ...

You always know how to hurt me with your words, Alan.

Cordovan might work well. Its from the horse's butt and is very smooth. Can't put into words what makes Tony's strops so awesome, but for $25 you can't go wrong. Period. I'll try though. They are soft and supple, yet strong. And they are smooth.