Thread: Buffalo Woes

I have made quite a few strops from Buffalo and some seem pretty nice, some not so nice. The hide sometimes seems to get a crinkly surface, on some pieces more than others. It still seems to be effective for stropping, but in some examples it just doesn't look or feel like it ought to, IMHO. OTOH, with the right treatment in-house, almost any veg tanned 8oz cow or steer hide that isn't heavily scarred or creased makes an acceptable strop, in my experience. Has anybody else observed this about buffalo? (not talking about American buffalo, or bison.) Honestly, I don't expect to be ordering any more of it ever. I have a couple of buffalo strops left that actually I am hesitant to sell or even give away. Here is a pic. Sorry about quality, it is laptop webcam.

The one hallmark of a quality strop is that it is totally smooth and free of any imperfections. Once you start with imperfections it becomes a lessor grade and personally I would never use one like that.

I doubt you can get that smooth without sanding it down which may or may not work.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

The one hallmark of a quality strop is that it is totally smooth and free of any imperfections. Once you start with imperfections it becomes a lessor grade and personally I would never use one like that.

I doubt you can get that smooth without sanding it down which may or may not work.

No, sanding doesn't work very well, or it didn't on the one I tried. Some pieces didn't crinkle like that at all. Some did, and this is probably the worst. I used one that was crinkly like this but not nearly as bad. Seemed to work fine as a strop, but I ended up scrapping it just because it didn't look or feel like it should. This one I am sure didn't look this bad when I made it, several months ago. Like I said, this one is not gonna get sold, and I will probably recycle the hardware onto a nice piece of cowhide. I was just wondering if anybody had encountered this before with buffalo. Not trying to fix it.

From what i've read, bison hides are naturally that way. probably not the best choice for a strop. JMHO

Originally Posted by tintin

From what i've read, bison hides are naturally that way. probably not the best choice for a strop. JMHO

This was not Bison but yeah, apparently. Glad I didn't buy a whole double shoulder or a whole side, just a few strips. I guess it's plain old cow and horse for me from now on.

I have had hides do this for me as well. Usually on those with a heavily finished surface. Sometimes when a hide is rolled too tightly even with the skin side out it stretches the grain side (and especially any dye/sealer) and then when relaxed flat again there is no where for the now longer, stretched surface to go so it crinkles up. Rolling skin side in creates a different but similar effect but with rounded wrinkles rather than micro-cracked wrinkles. It is not always consistent with the same type of leather either. I have bought hides at my supplier that look great flat, roll them very gently, grain side out in a large diameter roll, lay them flat in my shop again and have a similar surface to what you are showing.