Thread: Using leather belt as a strop?

You need to be careful. Most belts made these days are either not leather or even the ones markes genuine leather are made in China of processed reconstituted leather or they use a paper thin membrane of leather over who knows what.

What would be the absolute best type of leather to use for a strop? Something very fine grained like french veal calf leather, or something very strong such as Shell Cordovan? Or something strong but soft like Kangaroo or Kid leather?

Good quality cow hide tanned for strops. I have no idea of what that process is. You'll have to ask one of the fine strop makers here about. I gave up on trying to make other pieces of leather work as a strop. I was working my self to death trying to get results and only became frustrated. So, now I'm a reformed strop tinker. I like Russian leather, oiled tanned cow hide and such.

Regards

Chasmo

If I may piggy back...would it be cheaper to find a nice piece of leather and build your own fine strop? Or does quality leather constitute most of a strops cost?

I found a 5.7 square foot piece of latigo leather online for $20

There is no best leather. The important thing is it's free of blemishes and defects and silky smooth. Different finishes and leathers will give a different feel but they all do the same thing in the end.

Originally Posted by RezDog

I did once upon a time. There was no internet then. It was the only nice piece of leather I could find and had no idea I could use other material or that they were still being made. The belt needs to be new as wrinkles are bad, and without tooling. Are you looking for an interim strop

Yeah, I am looking for an interim. Like most beginners, budget is everything.
I have read some threads about making my own. I have ordered some honing leather from the wood craft store. Going to make a paddle strop.
So many choices of material!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just thought leather was the logical choice. Trying to keep it as simple as possible.

There is a thread here somewhere. The search engine appears to be goofed up at the moment. If I recall it correctly it is pretty much like bigspendor said. I have no idea about your area, but there are a lot of leather suppliers that sell belt blanks for people to make belts out of. It's pretty easy from there.

Like Hirlau, I use an old weight belt for knives. I have used it for razors but with poor results.

As for leather, my cobbler got me a 80+ inch (203cm) 3"(7.62cm) piece of latigo for $50 USD. I got 3 strops out of it.

Dave

Originally Posted by rolodave

Like Hirlau, I use an old weight belt for knives. I have used it for razors but with poor results.

As for leather, my cobbler got me a 80+ inch (203cm) 3"(7.62cm) piece of latigo for $50 USD. I got 3 strops out of it.

Dave

I think I may be more impressed that you have a cobbler! Thanks for the help.

Originally Posted by dkshave

I think I may be more impressed that you have a cobbler! Thanks for the help.

I know I am!