Thread: made a strop... now what?

I just finished my first leather work project, a strop, even before I've actually shaved with a straight razor for the very first time, because I need to send it off to be honed. I was looking at cheap strops online because i was advised here that a beginner has a tendency to shred their first strop. But even the cheap ones were about 35 bucks with shipping up here to Canada. So I decided to make my own 3" wide strop. Well its very heavy (about 9oz) cow hide leather (undyed/treated) and thus very stiff. Do I condition it with oil or leave as is. The guy at the leather shop said olive oil is a good conditioner, but he doesn't know anything about strops. Anyway, what now?

I would go with neatsfoot oil and rub it in well.

I have nothing useful to offer, but that's one fine piece of work!

Originally Posted by LAsoxfan

but that's one fine piece of work!

x2. My strop was just a piece of leather. Ive never treated it with anything other than the palm of my hand. Its still in great shape.

Thanks for the compliments! After reading the wiki (I need to be better about finding those first) I think I will start with just the oil on my skin and see how that works.

Well done, looks like a pro made it.

That's a fine looking strop , although since it's 3" wide you may want to add a third rivet to each end , to help keep it from "cupping" .

Thats a beautiful loking strop..nice work!

that's a nice strop. Great job.

Originally Posted by dave5225

you may want to add a third rivet to each end , to help keep it from "cupping" .

I just may do that.