Congrats, on a cool aquisition...i like mine too!
Thanks,
Mac
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Congrats, on a cool aquisition...i like mine too!
Thanks,
Mac
VERY glad to see this post. I've yet to hear anything but good reviews on these strops, and I just ordered on myself tonight. (Probably get it on Tuesday if they ship on Saturdays)
What do you think about the web fabric compared to traditional linen?
I have a SRD 3" black latigo, the strop is top notch in fit and finish, the web fabric I will admit was a bit strange to me compared to what my other strop fabrics look and feel like but it works just fine nothing wrong with being a little different as long as it works and it does no complaints at all.
ABOUT 6 MONTHS AGO I PURCHASED THE BLACK LATIGO IN 3 inch width.
IT IS A GREAT STROP. THE DRAW IS EXCELLENT.
THE JURY IS STILL OUT ON THE FABRIC. IT WORKS VERY WELL INDEED.
I STILL LIKE THE FEEL OF THE OLD STYLE LENIN.
SO FAR I AM CONVINCED THAT LENIN AND HORSEHIDE SHELL IS THE BEST FOR HOLLOW GROUND RAZORS.
FOR A VARIETY OF RAZORS, GRIND, SIZE, ETC. THE FABRIC AND LATIGO IS HARD TO BEAT.
I think you accidentally hit your BILLY MAYS key. :)
My new 3" SRD red latigo just showed up today.
First impression: HEAVY (in a good way). This thing feels really substantial and well made in your hands.
Congrats. I love my 3" red latigo. A giant improvement over what I was using before. I'm sure you'll love it.
I have it to. Its great looking and performing. Great tool!!!
I also have a 3" SRD Latigo Strop - I love it! I'll be honest, I don't have much experience, but it seems very well built. It feels good in my hands and looks like it could take quite the beating (not from me, though!).
I just got my red latigo strop last night. It's beautiful and well made. My only fear is that I will cut it so my mind doesn't wander while stropping.
You haven't tried the SRD premium I strop yet. It's my most used strop out of the bunch. Excellent draw and feel.
I placed my order for this strop tonight, but it's go to wing it's way across the Atlantic so it may be a while before I get to try it out. I'm looking forward to it!
I tell ya what I have the heavy 3 inch wool felt SRD strop you use with diamond spray. I also have the 3 inch red latigo from SRD. They both work great and they have excellent feel.
I use the wool strop after honing then move to the Latigo for my final step in finishing. I stopped using CroOx on a strop and just make sure the diamond spray is good to go and that does just as good a job if not better!
I couldn't ask for better!
Well, I've just bought a 3' buffalo hide strop from SRD--supposed to have tons of draw, but a bit softer. Can't wait to use it!:beer1:
I started out with a premium 3 red Latigo strop. Considering how much money I was blowing on high end straight razors, I had no hesitation to by this strop and a 4 sides paddles strop with 3 sides pasted. Both of these purchases have proven to be excellent decisions.
A few things I learned in working with tools: buy quality tools, take good care of them and they will perform well everday and last a very long time.
Pabster
Not only good advice for our hobby but anything you buy. Always get the best you can afford--you'll be much happier in the end.
i have a 3 inch red latigo and i love it. great purchase.
That SRD 3" buffalo is a big comfy ride, you'll love it if you like strops. I just bought an SRD build-your-own-strop with the 3" latigo on one side, buffalo on the other. I wanted to try 3" strops, I tend to favor narrower 2". The buffalo was just a bonus.
The buffalo is thin, soft, and almost feels stretchy, but isn't. The surface is somewhat finely textured, almost pebbly. When you rub it with your palm to warm it up, it has a terrific feel when stropped. It reminds me of cordovan with it's softness and smell, but with texture and pretty intense draw right out of the box.
The latigo is thick, hard, and heavy, the thickest strop I have including vintage shell. The workmanship and leather quality is great. It's taking some time to break in to the level of draw of my other well-broken-in strops, but improves every time I use it. It will be killer in a few more weeks of rubbing and stropping.
The handles are well-made, but I prefer rings or plain old-school strop. So I took the handles off and just use the small O-rings that originally held the handles, to hold the strop itself taut. Perfect size for the job.
My opinion so far of 3" vs. 2" or 2.5" strops is that 3" are just easier to use. I doubt they are any more effective, and I still like the feel and control of 2". But first thing in the morning, when I just need a well-stropped razor, the 3" is nice and friendly.
Well, it came in last week & I love it! The feel is amazing (and you can actually tell how much pressure you're using by sound--something I was never able to do w/ latigo.:beer2: Lots of draw right off the bat (but still smooth) and really makes that blade feel sharp @ the end. The webbed fabric is nice too. Highly recommended, but be careful as it's much thinner than say, a TM latigo... For that reason, probably not for a beginner.
Very true---saving money when you can is great. Buying cheap tools can not only hurt every day but cause you to mess up whatever you may be working on.
I ordered a new strop yesterday. I was going to get their 3 in red latigo. I've been looking at it for a while. At the last minute, I ordered the 3 inch premium I instead. Hope it was a good decision.
I went with a black latigo and the felt instead of the linen. I havent gotten to use it yet as it arrived today. Looks very well made :)
You'll like the felt! You do need to put a coat of diamond spray on the felt and let it sit overnight. Then the felt really shines! The .5 from SRD is what I use.
Well It is made to be used with the spray. I don't know it could be of any use otherwise since there would not be any abrasive qualities. Polishing the surface slightly would be about the only effect you would get.
I mistakenly thought it was just a higher quality linen type material. I will have to order the diamond spray then.
It is a rather new product that Lynn and Don came up with. I actually won one of these at our Mid Missouri Meet and the diamond spray came with it.
The instructions are to spray the wool felt surface then wait until the next day to use it. It should raise a very little bit of dust when first used which lets you know you have enough spray on it to be effective.
I can understand why you might think it would replace linen but the linen has a rougher surface which helps align the small ridges left by honing and then the leather finishes that process.
I hope that helps you some.
Well I just broke down and bought the .5 spray and an alum block. Shipping was as much as the bloody order lol. Oh well. It's only money:(
Small price to pay for awesomeness! I got the boker Edelwiess as well but it did not seem to come very sharp. Which is a surprise to me as Lynn did my last $75 Dovo and the edge was sharper. Oh well. I will have to give it a hone.
It's really good stuff and the alum block is very helpful. Shipping these days is high priced because of our postal services and the ever increasing prices.
I've never seen one that Lynn honed that wasn't very sharp. Maybe it just feels smooth and it's actually sharper than it seems?
Have fun this hobby really is addictive:-)
I got the red latigo 3" in a set with Dovo razor from SRD. Its a breeze to use, even though I am a newbie, I nicked only a little toward the side, this does not affect stropping at all. My next one will be the same strop, and I plan to use the leftovers from this one to make a CrO bench or paddle strop.
Great buy for me.
How would you say the alum block is different from the styptic pencil? I am also wondering about the leather on the strop. as it is 3" wide there seems to be a bit of a curve to the leather. So I just need to give it a good rub down to work that out?
An alum block is a big block of pressed alum powder.
A stripic pencil is a pressed stick of alum, titanium dioxide and several other things, depending on the manufacturer.
Stipic pencils tend to be very harsh, but do a very good job of stopping bleeding with small nicks. Alum block are gentle enough to be used on your whole face, tightening your skin, slowing tiny nicks, and drying up the surface of your skin, which is a good thing for some skin types.
my stypic pencil is 95% pure alum, the rest is inert (to help bind it) so it really depends. So essentially I have a small round alum block lol. And I've learned that no matter what you use, better to just not cut yourself lol. Alum still stings if it's a big cut.
:OT: Styptic Pencils are amazing btw. Paper cut? Styptic pencil. Real cut? Stypic pencil. Acne (the really bad gross ones that always seem to grow right before a big date and then seep...) Stypic pencil. minor abrasion? Styptic Pencil. I literally bought one for my first aid kit. Dunno how healthy it is but it makes nice dry scabs that stop the bleeding fast which is great.
Oh yea multiple uses for sure. I remember my dad using one when I was a kid. he had one in his tackle box when he went fishing:-)
Thanks for the info guys :)
Now I just have to wait for the diamond spray:gaah:
There ya go:-) Oh yea the particles sink to the bottom of the spray bottle so make sure you shake it well and often.
After I spray I place the spine of the razor on the felt and run it across to see if you get that little dust stirred up a bit. No need to wet it down though.