Thread: I made some bench strops, want some opinions on hanging strops.

My Illinois Strop is pretty nicked up, partially from me and mostly from it's first owner.

Ok, so I got some nice pieces of scrap leather, one comperable to the leather on my first Illinois Strop, another that was Latigo, and a third that was just a natural tanned smooth leather. I glued them each to a peice of 1"x4". I cut the width to 3 1/2" and the length is approximately 24". I did this three times(of course). The first one I added some Chromium Oxide. The second and third I left natural. I stropped on all of them with the same razor fresh off a Surgical Black Ark (For consistency) and found some interesting things.

First, all three work just as well as my hanging strop, they're just not nearly so handy!

Second, I found out that making a strop was as easy as hitting my Tandy Leather store and buying some strips of leather and cutting them to size.

Third, I didn't realize that a variety of different types of leather work equally well.

Some other observations:
The one with CrOx was a lot harsher on the shave test, so I stropped it on my hanging strop and came up with a nice smooth shave... Any ideas, or is it just the abrasive added that makes it harsher? It cut really well, but not so smoothly.

The Latigo really came up with a really smooth shave, no burn, but needed a second stropping during the shave, used the same technique.

The naturally tanned was the best all around, not quite as smooth as the Latigo(may change with time as it isn't quite as soft yet), but gave me three great shaves (three passes each) in a row before wanting to re-strop.

Does anyone have any idea why these worked the way they did?

So I am now asking another question for all of you out there who have made your own strops. Is there a certain cowhide leather that you like for hanging strops? I am going to go back to my Tandy store and get some to make a good hanging strop (I have tools at home to put in the grommets and other hardware). And I just want to know what you all have had luck with. I'd really like to replace my illinois (At least the leather part) it works, but I am down to about 15" of good strop area.

When you go to tandy,Have them show you the European single bend in about 8 oz. comes from and is veg tanned in Sweden,Fantastic stuff.

Any decent leather will do for a strop in my experience whether it be paddle, hanging, or whatever. I think where the differences really lie is in the feedback off the leather, and that is where the tanning and treatment of the leather plays a role in producing things like suppleness and so on.

Personally I prefer a soft-ish leather, or if not soft then at least supple (to me there is a difference). The only way to know what suits you best is to try a range of types for yourself. The beauty of a hanging strop is that they can be as simple as two eyelets at one end for a bit of string, so they are dead easy and cheap to make. Once you find what suits you the best, you can make something slightly more decent if you want (or if you are a pragmatic kind of person, stick with the string through the holes!).

Of course, the experience of the group developed through the shared information of years of trial and error via the forum has narrowed the leather field down to a subset of straight razor-acceptable leathers, or at least those that are known to be good (there's always something new and undiscovered around the corner), and a bit of research will uncover those for you. But within that subset, it will be up to you to assess what you enjoy the most and what gives you the best results. It may not even be only one kind, or it may be different kinds for different purposes etc etc. That's where the fun starts!

James.

Pixel, the third leather I got was a 8 oz Natural Veg Tanned, not dyed, and it was my favorite, I will look for the European Single bend. James, thanks for the info, and I guess I could just play around with a little of anything I can find in the scrap pile. I have been pretty lucky so far finding several suitable leather scraps of sufficient size.