Thread: Razor strop for razor shell cordovan Spanish barbera -Quercur

True horse shell is very thin. They usually bond it to another piece of leather which makes it seem thicker.

Oh, huh. I have a travel size shell strop that I am guessing is probably from the '40's or '50's? It's a Peter J. Michels No. 176. It works quite well. The linen side is a light salmon color.

Oh well. I am going to give it a go and ordered the red one. Thanks for everyones input and I will let you know how it turns out. Coming in from Spain so, give me 6 to 8 weeks.

Originally Posted by Blamo

Oh well. I am going to give it a go and ordered the red one. Thanks for everyones input and I will let you know how it turns out. Coming in from Spain so, give me 6 to 8 weeks.

I ordered one woth stuffed handles and 75 mm... spoke with the maker before buying... he says this is original cordovan (cordobès i spanish) made in Cordoba with the origonal methos and horse hide. However is NOT the same finish as horween.. sonce my horwen from Alatair will be ordered in december, i gave it a go and will report back on this thread, and also make a comparison between the 3 shell strops

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Ok...received the strop today and have to say that I am rather pleased. This first picture gives it some scale compared to a Tony Miller.



As you can see, like another poster mentioned, this strop is very thin.



It is shell cordovan (tight grained horse butt) but not the oil infused leather that Horween puts out.

Some craftsmanship comments. As you can see, the stitching is a little off



And the logo is shown on the rough side (even though the rough is as smooth as some other strops smooth side)



All that aside, it is a fast, tight grained, dense, cordovan strop that will last forever and only costs 80 bucks, after shipping from Spain.

You already found one?

[QUOTE=Blamo;1773701]It is shell cordovan (tight grained horse butt) but not the oil infused leather that Horween puts out.[QUOTE]

Just so there is no confusion/misunderstanding, Horween does make shell Cordovan leather and other types also.

Bob

Shell made today is thinner than vintage shell because most of the good shell used to come from work horses who had developed thick skin from wearing harness that was over the "SHELL" area. I have a Koken Imported from Scotland Shell strop that is much thicker than newer shell strops I have owned or seen. Most of the shell today is used in fine hand made shoes so they want thinner shell for that purpose.
With fewer & fewer horses doing heavy work anymore & the main use for shell being shoes it is hard to get the thicker shell. I think Horween would make thicker shell if there was a big market.

Slawman