Thread: Straight Razor Design's (SRD) 3" Roo Strop

The draw on the bridal doesn't change much. I've noticed you get more draw Web you rob it slowly for a longer time and get it really warm. Even then there's not much change. At least no where near the draw of the roo. I've heard that latigo has.a lot of draw though

I know Val from the Gentleman's Den, just got one of these Roo strops from SRD, the 3" one, and he absolutely loves it!

Likes it so much, he put a video on his site demonstrating it and giving it rave reviews!!

I also love mine it's also a 3" from SRD. It produced a superior edge.

Will the roo leather available on ebay make a reasonable strop?

Shure miracles happen everyday..... Just kidding. I don't gnaw but I bought an English bridal strop from Ebay once and it was crap. Uneven in a since that it wasn't flat. And cracked all over. I ended up gluing it to an old table leaf with a clamp on each side and my lapping plate on it. Then sanded the cracked up ole thing and applied Cromium oxide. Finally cut the leaf and made a paddle strop. But that's my strop experience with Ebay, not good at all.

I have had mostly good luck with stuff purchased on ebay. I guess a strop isn't something you can assess until you get your hands on it. I have made a couple of strops from leather I had laying around and with all the discussion of roo strops checked around for roo leather. Only thing I found was directly from Australia and most readily available on ebay. Does anyone know what part of the hide makes the best strops or if it even matters?

Originally Posted by john3126

I have had mostly good luck with stuff purchased on ebay. I guess a strop isn't something you can assess until you get your hands on it. I have made a couple of strops from leather I had laying around and with all the discussion of roo strops checked around for roo leather. Only thing I found was directly from Australia and most readily available on ebay. Does anyone know what part of the hide makes the best strops or if it even matters?

The good roo hides are usually small ones, because the younger animals have less scarring. With that in mind, you are generally just trying to maximise the amount of strips you can get from the hide, avoiding imperfections, and curvature, rather than concentrating on which part of the hide each strip is coming from.

Avoid chrome tanned hides, and go for vegetable tanned if you can. Chrome tanning is fine for clothing, etc, but does not give the nicest stropping surface.

I am about to buy a Johnny Goodsir Kangaroo strop made in Australia it is actually 3.1/4 inches. I have heard alot of good things about Kangaroo strops including your review above, I hope mine is just as good!

The roo leather on the SRD strop is second to none.

Well, my SRD Roo Strop with the coarse / pressed linen backing option just arrived. Certainly is a looker!

Going to be interesting to use it for awhile and see what results it delivers....very nice piece of Roo though, the full 3" will be a pleasure to use!

Edit: just gave it a quick try, I'm impressed! I thought the draw would be mild, it wasn't! It was a good strong pull, lots of feedback which I like, you could tell it was engaging the edge.

And the option add-on of the coarse linen, when I hit that a few times, a cloud of white dust (chalk or something similar to the Dovo White / Grey paste) came out of the linen side, excellent, it's impregnated then with a mild abrasive which will be even better for the blades. This seems to be one of those go-to strops IMO.