Thread: DIY Condition Cow Leather?

Dear All,

i got a lovely bit of cow leather, 3mm bridle butt, 3" wide.

Is this a good type to use as a strop?

i also got some organic hemp webbing for the cloth component.

does either part need any conditioning, oiling etc? they seem ok as they are, but im no expert.

thanks,

danny

Im no expert either but give them a go. I cant see either do any harm, although bridal can be quite oily/waxy so might have a heavy draw. You could always look before and after stropping under magnification to see the results. Ive often thought of making my own strop so congratulations on giving it a go, you never know you might have just found the perfect strop for you.

The hemp webbing looks like it should work great.
cowhide is also a good choice, but you want to make sure it is vegetable-tanned and not chrome-tanned when buying leather to strop. chrome-tanned leather is used in the clothing industry and doesnt work very well when stropping. the leather in the picture looks to be veg-tanned because chrome-tanned is blue on the inside and you can see a blue streak running down the edge of the leather. your leather can be used to strop without doing anything to the leather. although, you can rub the leather with your hand to transfer oils from the skin into the leather. which can change the properties of the leather a little. Do you plan on making a strop or just laying the materials on the table and stropping on it?

Originally Posted by StoneSeeker

The hemp webbing looks like it should work great.
cowhide is also a good choice, but you want to make sure it is vegetable-tanned and not chrome-tanned when buying leather to strop. chrome-tanned leather is used in the clothing industry and doesnt work very well when stropping. the leather in the picture looks to be veg-tanned because chrome-tanned is blue on the inside and you can see a blue streak running down the edge of the leather. your leather can be used to strop without doing anything to the leather. although, you can rub the leather with your hand to transfer oils from the skin into the leather. which can change the properties of the leather a little. Do you plan on making a strop or just laying the materials on the table and stropping on it?

Thanks for that piece of advice. The leather is veg tanned.
The palm of the hand and its natural oils seems like a good idea to break it in slowly and prepare it.
I have 50" so i will attempt a hanging strop and with the remainder i may place on a flat table until i find some wood to glue it to for a paddle. I never used a paddle before so it will be great to experiment.

I have never used paste before. I have heard it is excellent but doesnt appeal to me.

I will give it a go and once it is complete i will report back.

Many thanks

Danny

Originally Posted by markbignosekelly

you never know you might have just found the perfect strop for you.

You never know!, it is exciting to find random bits and make them work!

Check out Jimbo's sticky on strop making. I have used this and substituted the rivets for chicargo screws so I can replace pieces if necessary. It's fairly simple and looks good when done.

Originally Posted by eddy79

Check out Jimbo's sticky on strop making. I have used this and substituted the rivets for chicargo screws so I can replace pieces if necessary. It's fairly simple and looks good when done.

I checked out the sticky, mqny thanks for that

neatsfoot oil is great to condition the strop, rubbing the side of a glass bottle on the strop can lessen the draw if the neatsfoot give the strop too much draw.