Thread: Trying to buy another strop

Gentlemen,

I must agree with my friend Druid on the Torolf strop. It's a sweet strop and I love mine. With a light to medium draw, which I prefer, the Torolf has a magnetic feel and is a pleasant stropping experience. Of course, the Torolf is in a different category than the Neil Miller and the Kanoyama. All good stuff, though.

OK, you guys are killin' me!

Now I need one of Neil's strops!!

It will never end I tell ya, never end....................

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

I am not snarky Mike - I just cannot abide idiots.

If idiots post mindless waffle and someone does not correct them, then newbies will see that waffle as the truth rather than the load of clap-trap it is.

I perform a public service in this respect, unpaid - it is purely vocational and out of the goodness of my kind heart.

I do hope I will be along for a while, but I am no spring chicken as it is, no one will follow me and at the time of writing I am gravely ill.

Like Mike says, I make a strop fully able to withstand the rigours of everyday use. The hardware in particular is solid and makes the jap stuff look laughable with its bent-over nail as a swivel. Mine often have rugged, stuffed handles as well as the much cheaper leather grip tabs - considerably cheaper tabs, I should say. The work of cutting out the handles by hand, gluing them together, trimming them, blacking the edges, stuffing them, stamping three holes in each so modular screw fit rivets can be attached then lining the lot up with the leather and/or linen strops (again, better than that horribly stiff, scratchy jap stuff that looks like jute seat strapping and unlike which is usable as-is rather than having to card it or scrub it to remove the stiffness) before punching them with three holes each takes a whole lot longer than folding a leather tab round the end and stitching or riveting it. Although I do offer both types. Occasionally I do a run of napped cowhide plus shell - this is hardly ever remarked on, but is snapped up as soon as it becomes available.

With me, you get what you pay for. If you are after a collectors item, I have little or no time for that, and if you are seeking worth for worth please take the overall lengths, clear stropping lengths, the expensiveness of shell and the expensiveness of real linen plus the widths I produce into account. Then you will get a clearer idea of what value is. Just because someone found something cheaper with smaller dims using lesser materials by a third party maker as a seemingly always-on special offer is not much of a criterion to go by.

I have not mentioned prices and I am not pursuing sales - I have never had to do that. If you dont like my stuff buy someone elses - thats fine by me. Just don't muddy the waters by 'spouting' perceived value when you have not taken everything into account, because I will "belch out' ridicule on you - I do not like being misrepresented.

Regards,
Neil

Neil,
I'm sincerely sorry to hear you're ill. Here's wishing you a speedy and full recovery. Take it easy and get better. We still need you. Snarky belches and all.

Originally Posted by entropy1049

Neil,
I'm sincerely sorry to hear you're ill. Here's wishing you a speedy and full recovery. Take it easy and get better. We still need you. Snarky belches and all.

Indeed, Neil is the coolest cat around these parts and his rapier wit is his best attribute.
Get well bro.

Neil

Sorry to hear that you are ill and wish you a quick and full recovery. I always appreciate your straight forward up front style in your posts.

Bob

Neil, get well, stay well. I appreciate your humor and straightforwardness. There is not enough of that these days. George Carlin did a great bit on how the English language has gone from direct to 'let me diffuse it by using a dozen modifying words so that I cannot, in any way, offend you when I call you a s**t'.

Black may be called ebony and a lot of other descriptives. Red may be called maroon, cherry, fire engine and a plethora of other descriptives. But truth has only one color. Try to apply descriptives to it and you've created a effen big, honkin' lie.

Some of us know what Neil is putting up with. Seeing his words is a blessing to me. I hope and pray to see them telling it as it should be told for many years to come. As has been said....Get well Soon, Mate! That's an ORDER!

Somehow, over the years, I have never once managed to use one of Neil's strops, though I've stood on his shoulders often enough when it comes to research and history.

However, I have seen his restoration work first-hand and it's simply perfect. I would assume his strops are as well, and honestly, the next strop I buy will be one of his.

And like Tom says: Neil, get well soon!

i'd vote for a kanayama. although, i know i will buy a neil miller in the future after the kanayama