Thread: I am making my own strop. Any fatal errors in my ideas?

Having a overly elevated opinion of my abilities and a short attention span my approach to most projects is to dive straight in and learn as I go from all the mistakes I make. Having been targeted by the heavy artillery in another thread for seeking to clean and sharpen on old Sheffield razor without first sitting at the masters' feet an imbibing their undoubted wisdom, here I go again - with some trepidation. I am, however, genuinely interested to learn, despite often appearing otherwise. I think philosophers call this approach dialectical.

I have on old 1 3/4" Biber strop which I have as good as slashed to pieces in my hamfisted attempts to learn how to strop properly (I am now starting to get the action and remembering only to roll the spine, not the edge) . Horrified by prices of half decent new ones I have bought a 2" wide strip of 1/8" thick cow leather. The minimum order quantity has given me enough to make 3 strops.

MISTAKE NO 1 - I should probably have bought 2 1/2" or 3" wide leather, but I have started so I will finish.

I intend to reuse the metal swivelly bit from the old strop and attach it to the new one using some Morocco offcuts from an old bookbinding project. At the other end I am thinking of forming a handle from 3/8" ply, fixing the leather a deep groove in the ply and holding it in with wooden dowels.

The top surface of the leather is very smooth and appears to have been polished or burnished in some way. I was thinking that this may need to be opened up a bit so that it can hold the paste. Any thoughts on whether this is needed and if so what to do? A bit of rubbing with some fine grit paper perhaps?

Originally Posted by NigelW

I was thinking that this may need to be opened up a bit so that it can hold the paste.

Everything sounded fine to me until I read the above sentence. Most people use pastes infrequently if at all. The amount of detail (swivels, handle) that you are putting into this makes me think that this will be your daily strop.
Most people use clean leather as their daily strop often accompanied by a linen or other fabric strop that is also not pasted

I think experimenting with pastes is fine but I would put them on a cheaper substrate like a balsa paddle or a cotton belt. Even if you do use the pastes frequently you are going to want to finish on clean leather.

I like 2" strops. YMMV

Originally Posted by bluesman7

Everything sounded fine to me until I read the above sentence. Most people use pastes infrequently if at all. The amount of detail (swivels, handle) that you are putting into this makes me think that this will be your daily strop.
Most people use clean leather as their daily strop often accompanied by a linen or other fabric strop that is also not pasted

I think experimenting with pastes is fine but I would put them on a cheaper substrate like a balsa paddle or a cotton belt. Even if you do use the pastes frequently you are going to want to finish on clean leather.

I like 2" strops. YMMV

Thanks for the advice - much appreciated.

I agree with the above. Use the leather as is. Since it's already cut to width, you just need to affix some hardware on the end and use it.

I use a piece of horse butt that's similar, except I cut it out of a butt strip. I robbed the hardware from some cheap strop that I got and it's been my daily strop for years now.

Less is more with it (use it for a month or so before making judgement, and avoid putting anything on it during that time).

Leather needs to be flat as a pancake, supple - not stiff, and cut square at each end. Make sure hanger fixture reaches/supports the leather edge to edge to prevent curling or cupping; a hanger at the other end of the strop can be a handle and a hanger if you want to reverse direction on the strop from time to time. I think a 3" wide strop is asking for cupping problems; go 2.5". Most people use leather as a final strop, untreated with abrasives.

Standard seatbelt webbing makes good, inexpensive, fabric strops. Use one raw and another (or the backface) with abrasive. What is called 3" seatbelt webbing is typically 2 5/8" to 2 7/8" wide. If you only make a couple, price shouldn't be a problem. If you want to make hundreds there are other poly- and poly-nylon webbings that cost a song and do fine.

If your technique is still unsure, practice a bit with a plastic- or butter knife to get the feel and avoid chopping up another one.

All great advice so all I will add is don't sand it as if burnished it should be a good stropping surface. All it should need is palm rubbing before use

Pics would be good. Hopefully you have decent quality leather.

If you want to use pastes I would recommend getting a fabric component. Once you paste leather it is all over, no going back.

Pastes are only needed if a razor stops shaving well and begins to tug. Then you strop on pastes or touch up on a finisher.

From another thread:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/begin...ml#post1446255

Hey NigelW,
sounds good so far, apart from as has previously been said - the paste. You may want to use bolts or something similar instead of dowel, unless the dowel is a nice tight fit.
My strop is just a strip of leather with a door hinge riveted to each end, a clip is attached to one hinge and a handle of sorts to the other.

There is nothing wrong with a narrower strop, it will make you learn an X stroke.

I am glad you stuck around despite your trepidation. We really do want to help.