Thread: How to Make a Good Strop?

Originally Posted by tintin

to say that there is only one way would be wrong. here is how i made mine. found some 6-7oz. leather 3 inch wide and around 24 inches long. i'm not sure exactly what kind it is but it just needs to be smooth on one side. The reason i say it doesn't matter what kind is that you can buy strops made from latigo, veg tanned, bridle, and from all different kinds of animals as well. they all give a different feel (or draw). generally a strop that you use for every day doesn't need any compound, just rub briskly with the palm of your hand before use and your skin oil will be enough. For a secondary strop i glued some denim to some strips of cardboard (not the corrugated kind).here's some images.

i chose to put a handle on it because it is easier to hold on to for me. the hanger end i made from a bent 20d nail. it is all held together with chicago screws if i need to replace the leather.

The denim/cardboard idea is genius. I use cardboard for stopping my knives, so gluing denim to the gloss side would make for a double sided strop. Now to determine the grit equivalent of cardboard.

Do you use compound with the denim?

Also, the type of leather can make a big difference in its surface hardness. The grain on full grain leather, especially when compressed, is very firm. Although the leather is flexible, it takes significant force to press into the surface. This is not dependent on the thickness of the leather, so even lower weights can provide a firm unforgiving surface to avoid rounding an edge. Other leathers with the grain altered or removed often don't provide the same qualities.

I know all of this about leather, but I don't know how it applies to strops for fine razors. Do you think that a firm leather like full grain tooling leather could achieve greater results and/or lower the risk if rounding the edge? Perhaps the potential of such leather is beyond the scope of necessity?

now you are getting a little too technical for me . it seems that most of the strops i have seen use the grain side and not the flesh side. As for using compound i have a vintage linen strop that i have put some chromium oxide for touching up the razor when it starts to dull.i'm sure it would work as well on denim.

Originally Posted by tintin

now you are getting a little too technical for me . it seems that most of the strops i have seen use the grain side and not the flesh side. As for using compound i have a vintage linen strop that i have put some chromium oxide for touching up the razor when it starts to dull.i'm sure it would work as well on denim.

I once read that you can use compound on the flesh side (MUST be veg tanned, flesh side is too soft on other types). You then use the grain side bare.

I use the flesh side of 9oz tooling leather for my chisels, and those get dangerously sharp; probably as sharp as a straight razor considering the ease with which they remove hairs from my arm.

The chisels make good example of tooling leather's firmness because they require a complete flat and consistent angle from shoulder to point. To achieve that with the soft side of the leather speaks volumes about the leather's firmness.

Please make a video of shaving your face with the chisel, that way we can see if it's that sharp, save me some money I got some nice chiseled already. As far as the strop goes as long as it's smooth it will work. , some of the roo strops are pretty thin and they work well also.