I spotted this one on eBay and I wonder if it's a good starter strop? Thanks.
Fromm Illinois Razor Strop Top Grain Cowhide Handle 20" - eBay (item 310126787345 end time Apr-03-09 11:12:36 PDT)
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I spotted this one on eBay and I wonder if it's a good starter strop? Thanks.
Fromm Illinois Razor Strop Top Grain Cowhide Handle 20" - eBay (item 310126787345 end time Apr-03-09 11:12:36 PDT)
I'm using that very one...the Illinois 206. Its a great little strop. I'd like a wider one, but all in all a great strop.
That was one of the first strops I had when I started. It's an ok strop, but it is a bit on the small size and you may or may not get the results you want with it. If you want to go with an Illinois strop, I have the Illinois 24" model (361) with no handles; it is WELL worth the extra $10 it will cost you.
If you are considering other strops, then there are lots of options that would IMHO be better, whether from large manufacturers (Dovo/Jemico, Thiers-Issard, Illinois) or handmade top quality strops from Tony Miller or someone else.
Good luck!
The strop WILL work...but the price difference into a much better strop is not much at all.
John P.
i have the 206 and it works great for me. i don't mind the size and the quality is just fine. but let me put it this way. my next strop will be a Tony Miller, i have read enough about them, and i had one of his latigo starter strops which was great. Tony's strops always get good reviews and though they are a little bit more money, they are definitely worth it.
Nashville knife shop has them for less $$$ I have ordered the #827 Russian leather (slightly larger) through them a few times for myself and others...
The #827 is my Honing strop now, I think the rougher texture to the leather smooths up a fresh edge better then most other strops (JMHO) For my everyday though I recently switched to an SRD Latigo, (great workmanship) I also have a TM strop in double leather made specifically for pastes, that the quality is fantastic on, so basically pick the price you want to spend and grab one up...
That's what I use, works fine.
Thanks, guys. I went with the 827 Imperial Russian from KnifeCenterStore for $33.
I am currently using a #361 professional style model. It was a factory defect from when I was still selling Illinois strops on eBay. (I decided to use this one as a challenge to myself to prove that even a somewhat damaged strop could still be perfectly usable. I knew that if had I sold this particular strop to anyone, that they would most likely have complained. But anyways...)
I have used IRS Co strops for many years, mostly the #827 Russia, and now the #361. I have come to the conclusion that, at least based on the one's I have used, that all IRS strops need extra "breaking in" work before they will give good stropping results.
I began using the #361 "as is" with just a bit of strop dressing to begin. I found that it just didn't work as well as it does now, after a more aggressive breaking-in treatment. Just to be sure, I gave the strop a good 4-5 months of daily use "as is." There was an immediate improvement in stropping once the aggressive break-in treatment was applied. In fact, once properly prepared, IRS strops are excellent.
So, as usual, YMMV, but any of you who are using, or have used an IRS strop, and aren't quite happy with it's performance, may benefit from my observations above.
One other thing, I think that the canvas that comes with the current IRS strops are crap (I think that is the technical term for it). I have experimented with ways of improving them, including coating with urethane and sanding which seemed to help quite a bit. My usual solution is to find a vintage linen hose strop, treated with wax as they usually were, and replace the IRS "Barbers Best." I realize that this may not be practical for everyone since the number of good vintage strops available is extremely limited.
I have described how I break in a strop at least a couple of times here on SRP, so I'm not going to repeat myself again here. But if anyone has an interest and can't find those posts, I'll go over the process again.
Scott
At least give us a thread title Sir.Quote:
Originally Posted by honedright
Ah geez Mark. I was trying to avoid all that work. You see, I'm extremely lazy and proud of it. But if you insist, I'll see if I can find something.....:DQuote:
Originally Posted by JMS
Scott
Sorry Scott! You see, my #361 works beautifully with little break in. I want to know what you do to see if I can improve on an already good thing.Quote:
Originally Posted by honedright
Found this one: http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...-breaking.html
Read it rather briefly and the only thing I'd change is, I would now recommend using the pumice. I found that completely smoothing out the #361 with a dry pumice stone first was one of the best things I could have done to that strop. It now has a sort of mottled appearance probably because I removed all of the factory finish on the surface. I then performed the rest of the treatment as described with the lather, bottle, dressing and talc. I've also found that it isn't necessary to go for a whole 20 minutes of rubbing. 5-10 minutes seems to do just fine. The strop is now smooth as glass with minimal draw/ drag just the way I like my strops.
Scott
PS - Mark, it took me a whole 10 minutes to find that old post! You owe me a beer dude. ";"
Repeating my caveat above - YMMV :)Quote:
Originally Posted by JMS
Scott
Thanks, Scott. I figure I'll try it out of the box, and see what happens. No use in fixing something that isn't broken.Quote:
Originally Posted by honedright
And if you ever find yourself down San Diego way or I in your neck of the woods I'll buy you that beer!:)Quote:
Originally Posted by honedright
Thanks for your efforts!
I second this sentiment. The plasticky "linen" they use nowadays will leave a very rough edge IME.Quote:
Originally Posted by honedright
Is there any way to get this linen up to snuff? I don't useQuote:
I second this sentiment. The plasticky "linen" they use nowadays will leave a very rough edge IME.
the 827 I have for this reason, and will probably have to
get rid of it.
- Scott
I've never found a way. Just replace it with something that doesn't suck. As Scott mentioned above, you can easily replace it with vintage linen, since many of the vintage strops have the same dimensions and handles as the Illinois ones, and there are a fair number of vintage strops on ebay with nicked or rotted leather but good linen. Give it a good scrubbing and iron it flat and you're good to go.Quote:
Originally Posted by sebell
You can also get some webbing and fit it in. Cotton and Jute are common (Dovo uses Jute I think), and Hemp should work as well, maybe even better since it's supposed to be very abrasion resistant. Take the junk off the Illinois strop, and use a razor to cut the stitches holding the canvas to the handle. Cut your webbing to length (actually a little longer just to be safe), and smear some barge cement on one end and slide it into the handle, and clamp it tight for a day or two. Line up the new piece with the other leather side, and cut a hole in the linen for the clip screw and put it all back together. If you want to secure it a bit more solidly then you can put a couple of chicago screws through the handle/webbing joint. It's not quite as neat as the original stitching, but it requires a specialty machine to sew through the handles and canvas, and the chicago screws are a pretty trim alternative.
Sounds good. I'm probably not terribly inclined to go thisQuote:
I've never found a way. Just replace it with something that doesn't suck.
route since I have strops that work great for me, but if I
ever come along a good looking vintage linen I'll be sure
to snag it.
- Scott
I'm kinda surprised to hear the negative impressions of the linen. I've been using the linen/leather for 2 months now with no complaints. I ususally do 25/50 linen/leather. But, again, YMMV. I'm lining up the pieces to grab a SRD Latigo 3 inch wide strop, because that's the only complaint I have about the IL 206: Its only 2" wide.
I use the Illinois 835. It's a good Strop.
Thanks for the help honedright!