Thread: Leather surface on the strop

Please , can anyone of the knowing members explaine me whats wrong with me .
Everyone on the net are watching for the slick strops , but for me they dont work pretty accurate .
I make my self strops and paddles from naturally taned cowhide and from other lesthers , but after hours of break in and experimenting i certantly sand the surface of my strops to very fine naped . It gets such effect like the DOVO naped russian leather . When i slide a finger on it , leaves a a mark that is caused by the change of direction of the fine fibres in the leather surface . Every each of my strops eventualy looks the same way after all.
I like the heavy draws , latigo and if the leather is too slick i rubb the hech out of it with the spine of the razor , botle , pipe tobacco box . some of my hones or just sand it to naped condition with 400 to 800 grit sandpaper . I practice this torture since i like the draw of the strop . I mainly use liquid parafinum to rubb it in the new ,clean ,vegetable taned strop so it gets something like naped latigo . I sand the backside of the leather so finely , and use it before the outside of the leather . Just love the inside of the leather ,it works so well instead of lineen , or im just imagine this in my sick brain.
Whats wrong with me , is i am a sick guy and i am diluting my self , that my strops work better and faster like that on the heavy side of the draw . They get noisy also .

Different strokes for different folks ......... when it is too slick for everyone else, it is just right for me ....

Thank you for the feedback. I see no one has opinion and observation ,on the leather strop surface . Only Jimmy

What works well for you may work for another person. Thank you for posting!
~Richard

Like the folks have said it's all personal preference. There is no yes or no or right or wrong.I have strops that are very slick and some that have plenty of draw and I like both. They all do the same job.

I dont think they do exactly the same thing , if the draw or the pulling back is heavier ,the strop works faster . The slick ones will do the job for a longer time , more stroping . So where is the truth , i am intrested in observation and experience . from diferent surfaces.
I often catch my self stroping on fine linen only , or 10 to 20 on the leather . Is the slick leather needs more time to do the job , like hones the speed is determinant quality of the strop .

Draw is just a physical characteristic some strops exhibit. It has nothing to do with performance. It may seem like a heavier draw means the strop is doing more however it simply isn't.

I used to collect strops from different critters and I had a lot and they all did the same thing no matter the critter or whether they had more or less draw or no draw at all. Some of the most expensive strops out there like the Kayanamara Cordovans have almost no draw at all.

I started to make a experience here with my strop routine.
I strop about 100 times on linen and between 10 to 20 on fine leather and i feel very good with that. (my old routine was 30 linen and 70 leather)
My next step is go up with the numbers of passes (on linen only) to see if i can get a better edge or not.

Whatever works for you..that new routine sounds backwards but if it works for you then go for it

I do believe you are reading way too much into the face of the strop. As you stropping journey continues, so may your preferences change.

Stropping is much more about the skill of the stropper than the finish on the strop.

As said, if it is working for you and you are happy with the edges… strop on…