Thread: I did it.Made me a strop :D

Hi everybody,

Just like the title says,i made me a strop... Here it goes,not the first thread of this kind and you can see in the pics where i got the inspiration from

First you see the tools,then the strip of leather i got from a belt makers shop its about 1 1/2 meters long,8 cm wide and 3 mm thick and somewhat rigid ( please tell me if i can use some olive oil to rub in the leather surface to make it more soft so it can make full contact with the razor on all the lenght )

Then i cut 2 square pieces that i draw and cut some triangles in for the D rings to fit... then i hammer the holes for the rivets... i made two trips for the rivets because the first ones were too small for 1 cm of leather...so i got bigger ones wich i hammered without a rivet setter coz i couldt find that... but its all good looks dont bother me as long as it functions

You can see the marks of the hammer better on the back of the rivets...

Now... please tell me what could i improve for my next DIY strop because i am thinking about something out of horsehide ... because that is thinner and it will deff make more contact with the blade if thinner .... should i make the next strip 7 cm wide because the 8 cm is slightly wider than my dovos blade... i will add a pic of the strop with the razor on top so you can see if someone wants to.And also if someone is interested i can type in the prices for everything aswell.

Let me know if you have any questions i will gladly answer each one.

Thanks alot for taking the time to read this, your opinions mean alot

Best Regards,

Iulian

Congrats! Thats come out looking really really great..!

You should be very proud of your strop, you've done an excellent job!

Heres to many happy shaves with it..!

Good job on the strop, you do nice looking work.

Looks like you had enough leather to make a couple of strops.


Silver2

That's a very nice strop.

It seems to me, it's much more satisfying to strop on your own good looking handmade strop than on a "just another bought strop".

Originally Posted by iulian

( please tell me if i can use some olive oil to rub in the leather surface to make it more soft so it can make full contact with the razor on all the lenght )

Looks good Julian congrats and enjoy the fruits of your labor. I have a number for vintage professionally made barber's strops and some of them are stiff by design. If you can find some neatsfoot oil I think that would be better than olive oil as it does penetrate where I'm not so sure about the olive oil. Bugs are nott attracted to neatsfoot where they may be to the other. Whatever you use go sparingly until you get where you want ot be. It is easier to put the stuff on than to get it off if you use too much.

A tip is to hole-punch the tip of your v-cuts for the d-loop, as it makes less likely to tear.



ed

Nice one I am impressed!cheers Don.

Now that's some nice work, Sir.
Amund.

Originally Posted by Stubear

Congrats! Thats come out looking really really great..!

You should be very proud of your strop, you've done an excellent job!

Heres to many happy shaves with it..!

Actually i am realy proud of it especially because its the first time i do something like this and it works.

Thanks alot

Originally Posted by Silver2

Good job on the strop, you do nice looking work.

Looks like you had enough leather to make a couple of strops.


Silver2

Yes i had but i dould not find cheap D rings so i figured id make a big one after the specifications of the srd english bridle but i think the 17 inches would have been just as good as opposed to 20.

Thanks

Originally Posted by JohnDee

That's a very nice strop.

It seems to me, it's much more satisfying to strop on your own good looking handmade strop than on a "just another bought strop".

Yes it is i love it and like stropping on it i find myself stropping just for fun and checking if it makes full contact with the razor and what i can do to improve the draw and contact surface

Its realy fun

thanks

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Looks good Julian congrats and enjoy the fruits of your labor. I have a number for vintage professionally made barber's strops and some of them are stiff by design. If you can find some neatsfoot oil I think that would be better than olive oil as it does penetrate where I'm not so sure about the olive oil. Bugs are nott attracted to neatsfoot where they may be to the other. Whatever you use go sparingly until you get where you want ot be. It is easier to put the stuff on than to get it off if you use too much.

Thanks alot... i will go and try find some neatsfoot oil and report back on the progress but for now i will just rub the palm of my hand 50 laps at a time untill i get good contact razor strop... thanks again

Originally Posted by Thylacine

A tip is to hole-punch the tip of your v-cuts for the d-loop, as it makes less likely to tear.



ed

Thats realy good advice thanks alot i will do that for the next project

Originally Posted by Blazinrazor

Nice one I am impressed!cheers Don.

Thanks alot

It means alot coming from you guys

Originally Posted by nightbreed

Now that's some nice work, Sir.
Amund.

Thanks again ...




How does Horsehide sound to you guys for a strop? what are the advantages over cowhide? for one it is thinner and i see how that will make full contact with the razor much more easily

What do you guys think will be the pros and cons of that... thanks alot again