Thread: Improvising a Strop

Okay so I have gone and done it. Like all the Senior/Experienced SRP members said, buy a cheap first strop as you will nic and cut your first. Well I had followed there advice and got the poormans strop kit. Started out with a small nic on the edge and the bottom. No bid deal just do not drag razor that far down. Then was a small one at the top. Again no big deal just a little shorter stroke.

Well over the week it got shorter and shorter until Last night I took a 1" slice right into the middle.

So it is pretty much unusable at this point.

I have to figure I am not the first idiot to do this. So while I wait for a new strop is there anything around the house can use to continue to shave?

Use contact cement to glue the cuts and then use pumic stone/sandpaper to smooth it back out.

+1 to contact cement and high grit sandpaper. Also if you have a saddle shop or leather shop around you pick up some leather a nice cow hide, or horse, or deer or anything that used to breathe really. Make sure its nice and smooth with no creases, grab a couple D-rings and Chicago screws and make your own strop or contact cement it to a piece of wood and there you have a paddle strop. Just my suggestion as I have done both and they work great. One was a cow hide strip 2 3/4" wide by 23"ish that was made for a belt and then some deer hide I had lying around that I made into a nice paddle strop for road trips.

Thanks for the tips on the contact cement. I did read that in other posts but I fear my strop may end up looking like a document that has been taped back together after a trip through the paper shredder.

There is a Tandy Leather outlet in Barrie that I was going to swing by on Tuesday and see if they had anything suitable. I figure if I can buy several strips I may end up with a months supply of strops ;-)

Tandy is a great place that's where I got the leather for my hanging strop. It was just a strip 3"x 50" for belts. You can also get D-rings and Chicago screws from there as well. Ask them what else they have there may be scaprs that could work or strops or even long strips of Latigo there also. Good luck with your hunt.

Try a belt, it might get you by until your new strop arrives.

Newspaper will work just fine for a strop. Put it on flat counter or book and do about 100-200 laps. You'll be impressed! (don't use the glossy ads)

+1 to CrazyCloud. Newspaper will definitely do the trick. You can also use a bulldog clip on the end of it, and attach that to a hook on the wall. If you pull the newspaper out of the clip your either stropping with too much pressure, or pulling the strop too tight.

Secondly, may I recommend newspaper and a butter knife. Or when you get your next strop, a butter knife. A dull object will allow you to practice your "flip" free of harm to your strop. And it will allow you to develop your stroke without endangering the life of your leather.

Good luck!

I have to second (or third?) the Tandy Leather Factory store. I bought a 2" x 50" strip of latigo there and some chicago screws and D rings, and have made a couple of strops. Works great, and I really like making things myself, so that was a bonus!

For improvised strop fittings, you can take a cabinet hinge from the hardware store and fold it over the end of the leather, punch a few holes and use short bolts/nuts to secure. Leave enough of it hanging out so that you can run some cord behind the hinge to make a handle.