Thread: Hand American

I took the plunge. I already had a strop from Tony, so I decided to try one from Handamerican leather. I actually ordered 2, since the prices were so reasonable. One with smooth latigo/red diamond leather, and the other with natural/black latigo. Finally won one offa ebay, too (a Simmons "Keen Kutter" 2 leather strop). When I get them in, I'll post a review.

Those are really inexpensive. I've been thinking of getting another strop, so I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on these.

Dan

Good luck. I ordered one a few weeks ago to use with coarser grits for my knives and other than the paypal notice I haven't seen a thing.

I'm wondering if Keith is on vacation. I sent an e-mail requesting a quote on a non-standard sized strop nearly two weeks ago and have not yet heard back from him. Given my previous dealings with Hand American, this is highly unusual.

Ed

I ordered mine from him via telephone, talking to him personally (I ordered custom sized ones, too). Keith did say his stitcher was on the fritz, but should be up and running soon. He said one was in the shop and should be ready Thursday, and he was getting a new one in Wednesday. It may be that this is what the delay is. On the bright side, he's not billing me until they're ready to ship.

When I dealt with Keith, he didn't charge me until he shipped. He was out of a product waiting for a re-supply on the particular leather I wanted, so that might be part of the delay. He is a wonderful guy to deal with. I'd give him a call & find out what's up. Nothing wrong with being curious about your order or asking for an ETA or tracking number.

Sounds like you're getting some good stuff Joe. Can't wait for that review over here. I only have one strop (A Tony seconds) but, as the disorder is, am interested in all the other stuff out there too :O

I have heard several of you guys mention ordering custome strops from vendors. What do the cuxtomizations generally intail, what are you looking for? Thanks

Originally Posted by Toddo

I have heard several of you guys mention ordering custome strops from vendors. What do the cuxtomizations generally intail, what are you looking for? Thanks

I just wanted a longer stropping surface. The Old Dog strops have a standard 15 1/2" x 2 1/2" stropping surface. I measured my favorite strops, and found I like about 20" of stropping surface. All the strops I have now are ones I made myself. The 2 1/2" width is fine with me, I just wanted more length of surface. I know of one guy who got a 24"x4" working surface on his. That's a bit much for me, but people figure out what they like, and folks like Tony can accomodate them. To my knowledge, Tony and Keith (HandAmerican) are the only two folks who can make you a custom-sized strop. Tony, especially, is a regular contributor here as well, and has helped a lot of folks develop the skill of stropping. His work is top-notch, and deserves continued support. You won't go wrong with his work. I hope I can say the same when I get my HA strops. Use a few, figure out what you like, and it can be made. It's very personal, so a broad, "this is what we're looking for" answer isn't really possible. You know now what I wanted, so maybe a few others will chime in and say what they want in a custom strop.

I also tried the HandAmerican "Scary Sharp" system (magnetic flatbed hone, glass plate, and sandpaper system) last night. Sharpened 3 knives with it (Spyderco VG-10 Endura, Opinel #8, and a Lone Wolf Loveless folder) It really works well. There's a bit of a learning curve compared to a conventional stone (mainly with the paper/adhesive combination....I finally learned to use a rolling pin to get the paper really stuck to the plate with the "grip" adhesive), but I was able to get a hair-popping edge on all three knives in short order. I did follow up with a final few passes on a Spyderco fine ceramic hone, but most of the sharpening was done on the glass/sandpaper hone. Another fine product from HandAmerican. I personally don't think it's good for razors, as the paper has some "give" which would round the edge without a lot of pressure (which you don't want with razors), but it works very well for knives. The mylar paper (up to 60,000 grit) that Keith has might do the trick, but standard wet/dry paper isn't so hot for razors, IMO.

Joe