Thread: Strop project started

I ordered ten meters of 3" linen material from England (in the other thread) and contacted my long time buddy Bill. Bill is a very accomplished leather worker. He has a business making mostly gun holsters and knife sheaths. I asked him if he has ever made strops. He had not, but I sent him some pictures of the very nice ones posted on here and he is up for the challenge. He is now doing some research and making phone calls for some horse leather. I'll post pictures of some of the progress as things come together.

Based on some of your other work i'm sure they will turn out great. Looking forward to seeing the finished product.

The linen has shipped. We decided to go with veggy tanned cow, mahogany colored, black leather fittings and nickle hardware.

The linen is here. I like the 3 inch width. It is definitely different than the material that is on my Illinois 827. Now to get it to my buddy Bill. I would like to cut off a piece to play with in the mean time. What is the recommended way of cutting this stuff and keeping it from fraying?

There is a product called Fray Check that can be found at fabric stores. You may be able to run a line of CA glue depending how the linen absorbs the glue.
Good luck with the project!

Ive cut with a sharp razor knife then put some wood glue on a piece of paper. Spread.it out and touch the cut edge in the glue. It dont need much. Fabric glue would be best but both of these dont dry hard. CA will.

Cut with a sharp pair of shears or sharpened utility knife and steel rule. I hone them with 600 & 1000 diamond files and strop on Chrome Oxide.

Fray check works well, it is what I use on Firehose, you don’t need much, it is inexpensive, available from any fabric store or Walmart.

I also put it on the holes, I punch with a sharp leather drift punch, not the plyers type. I sharpen those on a buffing wheel and cone shaped fine grinding stone on a Dremel at slow speed.

Thanks guys. I'll get some Frey Check and cut them to length before sending them to Bill. Also, I'll give him a bottle of the stuff for sealing the holes. I haven't measured it yet but I should have enough for 15 or 16 strops. I don't think that I'll ever need that many, at least I hope not.

Got the Fray Check in the mail today and cut the pieces that I need. Tomorrow I'll drop them off at Bill's house. I still have more linen left over if anybody needs some.