Thread: DIY Rosewood Stropping Station

Originally Posted by azgabe

Very nice work. I saw a vintage strop for $70 (I believe) and thought it was too much considering the cost of a new TM. I didn't know there were folks that used vintage strops. I thought the leather would deteriorate over the years.

Yeah, a lot of them are pretty far gone, and to some degree, depending on the leather and your patience, can be brought back. Then again, some of them are amazingly smooth and pliable. For example, #2 (the Wagner) and #5 (the Field and Co.) are almost as good as new. I paid $50 for each, and again, they're shell. My 1st strop was a TM (I assume you mean Tony Miller), and it's a great 3" latigo. But nobody is selling new shell cordovan for $50.

That's a nice full rack of strops you have there! Cool idea and great job, thanks for sharing it

Nice job. Rosewood is pretty.

Originally Posted by ScoutHikerDad

Yeah, a lot of them are pretty far gone, and to some degree, depending on the leather and your patience, can be brought back. Then again, some of them are amazingly smooth and pliable. For example, #2 (the Wagner) and #5 (the Field and Co.) are almost as good as new. I paid $50 for each, and again, they're shell. My 1st strop was a TM (I assume you mean Tony Miller), and it's a great 3" latigo. But nobody is selling new shell cordovan for $50.

Oh So shell means cordovan? The one I saw did say shell. I may have to inspect the condition a little closer if its still there.

Originally Posted by azgabe

Oh So shell means cordovan? The one I saw did say shell. I may have to inspect the condition a little closer if its still there.

I think there's some confusion on that; seems like someone on here recently tried to clarify this. Shell, generically, is the "shell" on both sides of a horse's rump, an extremely strong and fine-grained membrane between the hide and muscle proper if memory serves. I know of only two companies that can do the months of specialized tanning that it takes to make the rarest and finest of leathers. The Horween Company in Chicago explains it very well on their website (where they call it shell cordovan) here: https://www.horween.com/articles
Genuine Shell Cordovan is the art of tanning at its finest. More than just a color, it is a very specific leather, from a particular part of a horsehide. The irregular oval shaped shells are tanned, stuffed, shaved, and then polished – a process taking at least six months. Each shell is slowly steeped in gentle vegetable liquors. The shells are genuine hot stuffed then slicked onto glass frames to dry. Each shell is hand curried and shaved by highly skilled artisans to expose the shell. Dyes are hand rubbed on for a deep aniline finish. Finally, the shells are hand glazed to achieve the rich, glossy look and feel prized by fine craftsmen.-from their website. So the one company in the US that does it calls it more than a color, but the finished product of the long tanning process. I always thought of it as referring to the color cordovan too, like in cordovan penny loafers. But some companies that produce it in wallets, belts and other accessories have a black model that they also call cordovan, so there you are. There's a guy on Etsy who hand-makes gorgeous cordovan wallets to order from a shop in Taiwan I believe. I want one of the black ones, but it's close to $400 if memory serves.

There are others on here who know more about it than me, and can maybe further enlighten.