Thread: Leather advice please

Does anyone have any thoughts as to the best leather to use when making a paddle strop to be used with chromium oxide?
Thanks!

Have you considered balsa wood instead of leather?

It's cheap, readily available and easy to sand down flat for use. I dry mounted balsa with rubber cement to a pair of strops I made. Here's a link:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...tml#post365421

Dry mounting ensured a solid bond, but since it's rubber cement I'll be able to remove and replace the balsa if damage or age makes it necessary.

Just a thought.

- Mark (S-4-C)

That looks very interesting. Does the balsa work as well as the leather?
Thanks

It works as well as leather, but is more delicate. However, its cheaper and you can replace it should it come to grief.

Regards,
Neil

back to the original question, though... If one were to want to make his or her (hey, we like ladies to shave too) own strop and to enjoy an attempt at crafting a leather strop, what kind of leather should one use?? Thanks!!!

I am very interested in this question as well. Are there thicknesses to leather?

Yes, there certainly are leathers of different thickness. The old shell type hangers are rather thin, and Kangaroo leather is only a mm or so thick. Horse and cow can be several mm thick, and in fact I believe you can buy cow in varying thicknesses.

I have found different razors feel different on different leathers too. On some leather I find German steel feels good, on others Sheffield is best.

But in answer to the original question, I think since you are using it as a carrier for CrOx, just a cheap bit of leather would do the trick, as long as it is smooth and not complete rubbish. I guess a slightly thinner piece may make adding it to a paddle easier too, but I am not sure on that score.

James.

A natural vegetable tanned leather with no surface finish is good. The cowhide used for tooling is very good - it can be dyed if you don't like the light tan colour and the thickness is about right from 3.5 to 4.5 mm (which - I think! - equates to a 9 or 10oz weight). If you use a very fine wet'n'dry sandpaper on it it gives a lovely tight suede finish that holds CrOx powder very well. Latigo is good too - the oily nature of it (it is veg tanned leather that is vat-treated with oils and waxes) also holds powder very well, and it has a good, natural draw.

You can go overboard in choice but as Jimbo says, if it is just acting as a carrier a cheaper leather would do - but not one with one of those chrome or pigment finishes.

Regards,
Neil

Stropping Supplies

maybe these leathers or the felt pad...those look like good choices

Oceanking,

In the US leather is measured in either ounces or irons. An ounce is 1/64" and an iron is 1/48" in thickness. So leather of 9-10 ounce "weight" would be a bit over an eigth of an inch thick. That would be approximately exactly pretty close.