Thread: Making My Own Strop

I am buying a 11 1/2 inch piece of eight ounce leather to make my own strop. What I need to know is what I can do for linen options. I know that reliable materials can be purchased from the SRD website but I would need to shorten it up a bit. Anyone have any other ideas on where to get good material?

I also have questions on the construction. I plan to make a paddle strop with a simple plank of wood and a nice handle. I will be able to just glue the leather down without any problems but would I be able to do the same for the linen side, or would it be best to just keep it hanging?

seatbelt for linen side work like a charm

I prefer the hanging strop but as long as you dont go overboard with the glue i dont see any problems

+1 on the seat belt. Make sure it is clean. Also old jeans work well. Again make sure they're clean. For glue I like spray contact cement. Just remember it is messy don't do it on the bed, over spray doesn't clean off well. Spray both surfaces then allow to dry for a few minutes then stick together. You only get one shot at this!

Thanks for all these great ideas! However, I believe I am going to go for a hanging strop approach. The idea for this strop is that it will be easy to travel with and I'm not sure a piece of wood with leather and linen glued to it would work very well in that respect.

Thus I am going to get ahold of SRD and talk to them about their replacement strops. They are twenty four inches long, although I assume this is the entire product itself. In any case this would leave me with two strops that are roughly the same length as my existing leather piece which would allow me to have a plain one and a second to rub CrOx into. Hopefully they will be able to sell me the materials to make a couple of more handles, as this is the only potential problem I can see - I'll just have to see tommorow.

Okay, so SRD does not carry the materials to make an extra handle - anyone have any ideas on how to do this?

This is an ABU uniform belt. Do you think it would work for a strop? It is made of Nylon. I've got the leather I need already.

Look here: Spring Hooks, Swivel Hooks, Bolt Snaps, Dog Leash Snap Hooks Hardware Fasteners - usalanyards.com
I believe the SRD strops use this hook: 2" Wide Push Latch Fashion Bolt Snap Hooks For Flat Straps - usalanyards.com
Not sure though...For the bottom handles, search 1/4" Tandy Leather chicago screws on eBay. Same seller has 2" Tandy Leather D-Rings and Tandy Leather O-Rings (that's if you want a small O-Ring on your hook like SRD has). I think it comes out cheaper if you buy on eBay instead of directly from Tandy Leather's website (because of shipping).

Originally Posted by thevez2

This is an ABU uniform belt. Do you think it would work for a strop? It is made of Nylon. I've got the leather I need already.

You would have to try it & see. Some 'plastics' are very abrasive & not appropriate, think Scotchbrite.

http://cgi.ebay.com/2-8-9-oz-Brown-L...item19bc8862ee

I'm looking at using a few pieces of this to fashion the actual handle, unless someone knows where to get better material?

Another fear with using belting is how the edges are treated they could be raised slightly.