Thread: cowhide vs horsehide

Hi guys!

I'm just curious is there any big difference between cowhide and horsehide for stropping purposes?
I have a possibility to get a cowhide piece and make a belt from it, but don't have any horsehide ATM, and I want to finally start shaving with my straight razor So should I wait and get a horsehide leather or will the cowhide do the job?
Also, does any of them require any additional improvements to be done on them (softening maybe, etc)?

Thanks for your responses.

Smooth is important, first and foremost. And then treat the leather so that it actually behaves the way you want it to with a strop (i.e., flexbility and draw, etc.) You don't want a piece of stiff leather that cracks the first time you flex it.

I use cowhide and horse butt. I don't know anything about the rest of the horse. Horse butt is a bit abrasive, but not abrasive like diamonds. I really don't know which I like better - cowhide or horse butt - but it's nice to have two significantly different strops to try on different razors.

But they have to be smooth, no bunches of cracks, no big harsh ripples, etc.

thanks. I guess I'll get a piece of cowhide and try with it and later on maybe get some horse to compare.

1 more question, which one is better thin or thick? i have a variety from 2mm to 5-6mm. which should I get?
3" wide is enough?

Back in the heyday of barber shop shaves the default for a professional barber's strop was 23" long and 2 1/2" wide. In recent years the 3" strop has become the norm. Looking at a variety of vintage, and current strops that I have, it seems 3 to 4mm thick is the range. IME horsehide, which was most vintage pro strops were made from, is slick with little draw.

Cowhide, known as Latigo nowadays, has much more draw. Treating the leather with neatsfoot will increase the draw on any strop regardless of which leather it is made from. A little goes a very long way. Pro strop companies then and now, have their own jealously guarded methods for treating their wares. That is one reason why , while a home made strop will get the job done, it is generally not up to the performance of a pro made strop. IMHO.

Strictly speaking, Jimmy, 'latigo' is a method of tanning applied to cowhide - not all cowhide receives the latigo treatment! There are various types of latigo, all of which are re-tanned processes, such as mineral-tanned/oil veg-tanned/oil or a combination of both. The mineral salts can be alum, chromium, or a combination of both - they give the leather its characteristic strength. The pupose of the oil (or oil/wax) infusion is to impart durability, particularly where the leather is to be used outdoors and withstand rain, etc. It also gives the leather a slight 'rub-off' problem, similar to fully waxed/oiled english bridle leather (another form of cowhide), but which is of little consequence. The oil also imparts a draw, which in some cases can be quite heavy. The more mineral-tanned, stiff latigos have only a slight draw though and do not appear to be very oily at all.

Cowhide can just be tanned with vegetable tannins and used as a strop. Where the top surface has been mechanically milled-off to regularise it, it can be left as-is and have a softish, suede-like nap, or the grain pattern is articially imprinted in it and the surface re-treated to make it look natural. The prima-rindleder and buff-coloured juchten strop leathers are examples of this type of cowhide.

Hosehide/butt was mentioned - this usually involves two distinctly different types of leather and one sub-set. The first is shell cordovan which is richly hand-dyed, hand-rubbed, has a luxurious feel and very slight draw. The other is any part of the horse (some of the thicker so-called cordovan comes from near the shoulder area and is not really genuine shell cordovan which is quite thin these days) and which is vegetable-tanned and left undyed. It can be quite stiff, unlike the very pliable shell, and does seem to have a fair abrasive quality even though it has very light draw. The sub-set is this same type of leather that has undergone the full shell cordovan tanning and which approximates shell in many ways, but once again it is not shell but a cheaper leather from another part of the horse.

Regards,
Neil

The veggie tanned horse butt that I have is of the more abrasive stiff type with no draw. It was, of course, cheap - about $10 per sq ft. I'm assuming it's more dense than plain cowhide, because the same 8/9 ounce leather is less thick.

Does anyone know where you can get good smooth shell cordovan that is thick enough to make a decent strop?

My understanding is true Cordovan is only processed by two outfits in the U.S and though you can get small pieces suitable for things like watch straps obtaining large pieces for strops is more difficult since most of the leather goes to larger outfits for shoes and similar. Horoween (spelling is not correct there) is one outfit. I'm not sure about the other.

I have heard the same thing, someone brought it up on a woodworking forum because apparently someone somewhere out west who was tied to high quality stuff was going out of business (a couple of years ago?).

When I've looked around for shell cordovan, I've found the little bits like you mentioned, up to maybe purse or shoe size pieces. Nothing large and thick, though, and even if I could find it, it might be out of my price range.