Thread: First attempt at strop making - some advice needed please

In need of a strop, I was inspired by other's strop-making efforts and decided that was the approach for me - I enjoy a bit of DIY and the cost of getting one from overseas was also a factor.

I did a bit of searching on the internet and came across a local leather supplier who seems to have anything and everything I could ever need in their warehouse - Bunnings guy-heaven but with they bonus of the aroma of leather! http://www.lefflerleather.com.au/

My initial plans were to use 2" belt blank leather, but on advice from the guy who would have to cut it he pointed me towards a box of leather scraps. I found a few pieces that were big and wide enough, but 2 were a very waxy type of leather (black and brown) that seemed rather stiff - and I wasn't sure if the oily/waxy surface was a good thing for my razor. The third I bought as it had a bit more suppleness and the surface was very smooth and slick - it felt good to me - natural coloured about 4mm thick, cost less than $2 I hope it will do the trick, but if not I can scrounge for another scrap and replace it down the track.

For a cotton/linen strop (well I might as well make a double strop) they had some 50mm "flax cotton tube webbing". Compared to other webbing they had (thin herring-bone, and with many grass seeds in one case!) I preferred the smooth weave and thickness - plus being tube woven it has no seam and two usable sides - maybe handy for pasting who knows? Ooph! its not the cheapest material out there - cost me $7 for 80cm (a scrap length - no discount unfortunately!).

Hardware - well they had loads of options, I ended up getting a 2" snap swivel, two 2" nickel-plated Tawianese Dees for handles (I was initially thinking brass), and 6mm Chicago screw-rivots. The same basic hardware used by Star Shaving Supplies in their Big Daddy/Mama (I was just going to use all Dees until I saw their strops). I made a boo-boo with the rivots though, they're fine for a folded-over double-thickness join, but I forgot that there'll be more like double this thickness at the top where all the materials join together... Doh! So I'll have to source some longer ones now... I spent about $7 on the metal hardware (plus some more for the forgotten long rivots) so total cost well under $20


Now some advice please?!

1) The leather I have has a raw length of about 35" if cut to 2" wide (plus some 2" squares from the wide end of the scrap). Should I use this to make one long strop (I'm guessing it would be around 30"? working length), or two short ones? Can a strop be too long? Is there are rule of thumb for how much working length a strop should have?
I could sacrifice a a few inches of raw length and get a 2.5" strop out of the leather too. Is wider better or would you recommend sticking with the narrow 2"?

2) The webbing tube has a fraying edge, and it seems rather too easy to unweave the spiral core from it at the moment. I guess will have to stitch and/or glue it to stop this? What do you do to stop this?



Cheers,
quiet1

I'd reccomend getting a piece of string 4' long, tie it to a door hinge then, tie a knot at 1' and 4' (giving you 3' of travel) . Begin stropping the string occasionally moving the knot and reducing your stropping distance until its comfortable for you.
Depending on the length of your arms, you may find that even 16" will be long enough (giving you enough material for a 1" fold on either end, for two strops) or if you have gorilla length arms like myself you may decide to make yourself a super custom 30". IMO longer strop = less laps

I would likely cut the nylon perfectly straight then use a heat gun or an open flame to mend the fraying nylon ( use at your own risk )

I have to admit, Im a little jealous and once again Im inspired to make my own aswell

Also I have noticed on some of my strops the folded edges are basicially shaved thinner, possibly making your chicago screws long enough.

GOOD LUCK ! Id like to see the finished product!