Thread: What makes good strop leather?

Hey guys, I've not posted much but I'm constantly scouring the forums. A good friend and member here (Nun2Sharp) turned me on to straight shaving about a year ago and I've not regreted it since. Being that I'm a tinkerer (it's a disease you all know well, I'm sure) I've already got a set of stones on the way (norton combo's 220/1000/4000/8000) and a 12k Chinese with slurry that I've used a bit with good results. A good strop for myself (Illiois Stop Co.) and various other good bits, soaps, oils and all th fun stuff. I love straight shaving. I enjoy it as much as I enjoy shooting, and Nun2sharp can tell you, I LOVE shooting!

All that said, my point is that I want to be a self sufficient shaver. I can buy, restore, hone, rescale and with the acception of making my own soaps, I can shave in to infinity with out having to depend on shipping razors out for work. My last endevour is strops. I've got at least 3 friends that are willing to give straight shaving a try but I want to be able to give them the best bang for their buck. One of them doesn't make a lot and the price of getting good equipment is a little daunting to him. He can't imagine spending $50 - $100 for stuff you shave with. I've got a source on 2" tanned leather in 24" strips for cheap that I could easily make paddle strops out of and get these guys, and more going super cheap (about $20 per strop). I just need to know what makes good strop leather, what grits to sand the leather with to get it ready and if any specific dye's are a no-no. I've got plenty of neets foot oil to condition.

Like I said, I dont' post much so I figured I'd talk your ears off this time. Thanks in advance!

Gavin

Veg tanned leather; cowhide being the most readily available.

I get very good finishes starting with regular 150 grit sandpaper using a flat sanding block. I sand both the grain side and the flesh side. The flesh side will always have a suede-like surface, but you can sand it down to a velvet finish and when done this way I find works great as a canvas/linen strop alternative but yet is fine enough to use as a finish strop (the flesh side sanded appropriately). The grain side when sanded will be silky smooth. I don't treat my leather with anything after sanding and have never had an issue and have the draw that I prefer on cowhide and horsehide.

I then finish sand in the 200-300 grit range (use regular sandpaper. Don't use wet-dry since it loads quickly when sanding dry leather and is rendered virtually useless for that application.

Chris L

I made this one last year from a Tandy Leather strip I picked out at a Tandy Leather store. This strop included the Hand American hard felt I purchased from Keith in April of 2008 along with some horse butt strips.

Cowhide strop Barber Style end

Grain side after sanding. I ran three fingers down the surface which shows the silky surface.

Grain side close up. Very uniform.

Flesh side. No matter how fine you sand, the flesh side IME will have more of a knap to it. Still it's smooth enough where I can absolutely use this side alone as my pre-shave strop.

Chris L

Great post Chris, that strop looks beautiful --
reminiscent of the Dovo Best Russian.

- Scott

Originally Posted by sebell

Great post Chris, that strop looks beautiful --
reminiscent of the Dovo Best Russian.

- Scott

Hey, thanks, Scott. Exactly. The first strop I owned was a Dovo extra wide russian style. Those strops are made using the flesh side rather than the grain side. Velvety.

Chris L

That's exactly what I was looking for. Thanks a bunch! I'm sure I'll post results when I get something done.

I can't comment on leather, and it looks like you've got plenty of advice already.

However, I would like to comment on this:

Originally Posted by toothlesrooster

He can't imagine spending $50 - $100 for stuff you shave with.

I can certainly understand that sentiment, having been regularly accused of being a cheap bastard all my life.

However, you might ask him what kind of razors he uses, and how long each blade lasts.

If you don't to anything clumsy or stupid, you can shave virtually for ever with a single razor and a good strop + a pasted strop or barber hone.

Somebody just posted about meeting an 85 or 95 year old guy at an antique shop (selling stuff, not on display) who had been using the same razor and strop for many decades with nothing else, and shaved his entire head with it.

With the cost of most disposables, it doesn't take long to make up your costs if that's your main concern.

Originally Posted by VeeDubb65

I can't comment on leather, and it looks like you've got plenty of advice already.

However, I would like to comment on this:


I can certainly understand that sentiment, having been regularly accused of being a cheap bastard all my life.

However, you might ask him what kind of razors he uses, and how long each blade lasts.

If you don't to anything clumsy or stupid, you can shave virtually for ever with a single razor and a good strop + a pasted strop or barber hone.

Somebody just posted about meeting an 85 or 95 year old guy at an antique shop (selling stuff, not on display) who had been using the same razor and strop for many decades with nothing else, and shaved his entire head with it.

With the cost of most disposables, it doesn't take long to make up your costs if that's your main concern.

I agree with you VeeDub65. It's this reasoning that's helped him to let me show him the ropes. I've explained all of this in detail and the fact that I have hones and am able to touch up his razor without any issues or waits. It's just the initial cost. If you think ahead and place the numbers side by side, he's seing that straight shaving is much cheaper. Even with some of the materials that will need replacing, such as shave soap and any pre treatments. It's STILL cheaper than shaving with disposables. Sometimes it's just hard to get out of our own way. With me being able to provide a cheap but quality strop to him and a quality vintage Sheffield or Solingen razor at little cost, this will help in convincing him. That and letting him see first hand how a good straight shave feels.

Toothlesroster cost is one thing that lead me to build my own strop and hell for that matter to build my own 28mm silvertip brush (that and I love doing that kind of stuff now, including scales ) I wanted a 3" red latigo but I now have RAD and already had a strop so I couldn't see spending 80 bucks on a new strop (I would rather spend 80 on several antique store razors). So I said what the hell and did it myself. Now I have a nice 3" red latigo that makes me proud every time I use it!!!

For TOOTHLESS.....I've been playing the str8 game since about 1968 or so and my hones and strops total well over $3 grand. I should be spanked and she better be good lookin'.

If you like it, do it. 5 minutes after the Mrs. hightailed it 13 years ago, I went str8 out and bought a Corvette. So there...!!! Full speed ahead on your strops...!!!

Jerry