Thread: Suggestions for strops

Would appreciate suggestions for a strop. I was thinking of making one, but am not finding leather material locally. I am looking for something with a light ot medium draw, veg tanned leather, 2"-2.5". I am trying to keep cost down. Where are good places to buy material or a pre-made strop?

A couple places I was thinking of are Razor Emporium | Vintage Wet Shaving Supplies | Phoenix, Arizona and https://www.whippeddog.com/
if I can get the size I want
Are these good choices?

Joe

By the time you buy all the be materials, you could have gotten a nice finished strop. I wouldn't recommend Whipped Dog strops. To save on shipping be rolls them TIGHT and ships in an envelope. Mine had ridges and wrinkles in the leather by the time I got it.

I've only seen positive comments about Tony Miller's strops.
https://heirloomrazorstrop.com/shop?...teerhide-strop

Hi Joe,

I would second most of what JP5 said both in that it's probably cheaper or close to the same cost to just buy one as gather all the materials to make your own and that Tony Miller's strops are top notch.

The problem you're going to have with most of these options, that you're in Canada, is that the shipping is going to absolutely kill you. I would strongly recommend heading over to the Classic Edge and checking out their 2" English Brindle from the Ashcroft collection. I've not used this myself but it looks like it more or less meets your specs, is a beauty, and the company is just fantastic to deal with. If that doesn't work for you and you wanted to save even more money the Herold Solingen 155Ri Prima Rindleder strop from Fendrihan might be another good option.

I'm surprised that you can't find local leather in Cowtown! But I suppose it's all exported, probably.

What experience do you have with strops? Will this be your first, or is it a replacement?

If it's your first, I would second petresen's suggestion of Classic Edge's English Bridle strop. I have the 3" version and it's good quality. The only problem is that it's not light to medium draw like you want, I'd say it's more medium to heavy draw. Either way, it will be tough finding a better price for the quality.

If you have more experience with strops, I'd suggest buying something vintage off of eBay and restoring it. There are still deals to be found, if you don't care about the brand names. The materials for restoring strops are inexpensive, and the process, although it can take a long time, is pretty easy. With this option you'd probably end up with an inexpensive but high quality strop.

Yeah shipping is going to kill you. I would recommend emailing Tony Miller and telling him what your looking for. He has starter strops that he makes with whatever he has on hand, and the leather may have more 'range marks'. I've honestly been thinking about getting one myself for travel or to feed the S.A.D. at the very least. Make a post in the looking to buy/looking to trade section. You might find someone up there that has what you're looking for.

If you want to make your own strop for the adventure of doing so, then go ahead. However, cutting out the buckles, making handles and punching holes in precisely the right place is difficult if you do not have the proper equipment to do so. Razor Emporium sells pre-cut and punched leather and other parts you can use to make a strop. I purchased one of their Latigo leather parts to replace the old leather from a Parker Latigo that had been nicked. I like the RE Latigo, a fairly heavy draw. I also made a Rustic horsehide strop from parts purchased from RE. The leather was from Horween in Chicago. However, the draw is quite fast and probably not what you are looking for. RE also sells an English Bridle leather which they claim has a medium draw. So you might like that one. RE sells parts for 3" wide strops only, which I prefer, but some like narrower strops. YMMV!

I have a couple of Tony Miller's Heirloom strops, a fast bridle cowhide and a Novotan Horsehide. Both are very fast draw. Tony sells a "Plain Vanilla" 2 1/2" steerhide strop with D-rings that is currently on sale for $45. You can also get a 3" version in vanilla for $10 more. It looks like his "Plain Chocolate" strop is currently fast bridle leather, so it might have less draw than you want. You can always email Tony to discuss draw. His customer service is exceptional.

Originally Posted by binder

Would appreciate suggestions for a strop. I was thinking of making one, but am not finding leather material locally. I am looking for something with a light ot medium draw, veg tanned leather, 2"-2.5". I am trying to keep cost down. Where are good places to buy material or a pre-made strop?

A couple places I was thinking of are Razor Emporium | Vintage Wet Shaving Supplies | Phoenix, Arizona and https://www.whippeddog.com/
if I can get the size I want
Are these good choices?

Joe

There are many ways to buy or procure a strop as mentioned. As long as you can source or make the parts, making strops is not that hard (though they won't have the fit, finish or materials of the fancy bespoke strops). I myself am in the process of making a kangaroo-hide strop, and in fact ordered all of the strop hanging hardware from the first company you mentioned there. I wouldn't recommend them, as they left the clip out of my order that was delivered a week ago. Two phone calls with promises to ship asap (on the last one I was promised a tracking number that I didn't receive), 1 unanswered email, and I still don't have the clip-there is no excuse for "customer service" like that in a market as competitive as online razor gear-too bad Maggards doesn't carry that kit. The excellent 'roo hide on the other hand got here all the way from Australia from an ebay vendor I will use and recommend, with blazing fast shipping and excellent customer service. Live and learn.

Anyway, I and many others have gotten excellent strops from Tony Miller, as I think somebody mentioned. Vintage shell can be an awesome pick if you know what to look for, and is in fact my favorite stropping choice. And someday I will splurge on a nice Japanese cordovan strop. The choices are seemingly endless nowadays-let us know what you end up with. If you get SAD, you will wind up with racks of strops like Tom/Sharpton.

If you do want to make one, you really do have several options in Calgary. Just google "Calgary leather supplies" and you'll find more than one Tandy store as well as some independents.

That having been said, I'd recommend buying one made by a pro first so you know a) that you'll get a good strop, and b) what you want to make should you decide to go down that route. +1 to the Tony Miller recommendation.

Try Ian at OA leather supply
https://www.oaleathersupply.com
I got some leather from him
I think he moved to Sask. but that's pretty close
Mike

Originally Posted by Mcbladescar

Try Ian at OA leather supply
https://www.oaleathersupply.com
I got some leather from him
I think he moved to Sask. but that's pretty close
Mike

Looks like a great Canadian source for strop leather. Even has a specific page for that:
https://www.oaleathersupply.com/coll...=1152718176262

I don’t know enough about how leather is graded, but the photos on that page make the strops look pretty thick. Bench strop thickness maybe?

More info on thickness:
5/32 – 11/64 in or 4.0 – 4.4 mm

IMHO this leather looks to me like knife quality strop material rather than what we look for in a razor strop, but they offer a lot of others leathers.