Thread: Strop materials

Is there a difference in the quality of results in using various kinds of leather in strops?

Is there a difference in the quality of results in using linen or cotton a strop?

Is there a difference in quality of results when using various brands of leather/fabric strops?

Is there a difference in quality of results between a paddel and a hanging strop?

1. Yes
2. Depends
3. Yes
4. Depends

James.

Define "quality of results"...

No x 4>>>>>>>>>>>

Smooth shaving.

Originally Posted by HNSB

Define "quality of results"...

I would like suggestions on selection of leather, fabric, and possible brands.

Originally Posted by htmitten

I would like suggestions on selection of leather, fabric, and possible brands.

Personally, I like my Mountain Mike latigo strop with polyweb from Vintage Blades. Has better draw that the Illinois strop that I used before.

Originally Posted by htmitten

I would like suggestions on selection of leather, fabric, and possible brands.

Search is your friend

But to help narrow it down somewhat, there are generally 3 or 4 main leather types: Horse, cow, kangaroo, and possibly deer/game-related although I have not seen too much on the latter. There also was, at one stage, a "vegan" option for strop material too, but I am not sure where that got to. Of course the most traditional leathers are the horse and cow, kangaroo being a relatively recent, though useful, addition to the group.

Within those you have the different types of tanning and treatment, and of course leather quality. So there are a lot of variables and your best bet is to do some forum research as Pixelfixed suggests to narrow down what others have found worthwhile.

The same advice goes for fabrics, by which I assume you mean linen or canvas or seat belt or felt or whatever. Again, some research is warranted here as there are just too many options to discuss in a single post, and much of it comes down to personal preference once you eliminate the very poor quality options.

Brands....well in my opinion you are better off thinking about makers than brands (though sometimes they are one and the same I guess) unless you are considering vintage strops. A quick peruse of the Vendor's section of the forum will quickly show you who makes and sells what in the general stroppage area. Some off the top of my head include: Neil Miller in the UK, Tony Miller in the US, Straight Razor Designs in the US. There are others of course.

James.

So far there are seven responses to the original post with a total of 37 words - is this some kind of record?

I think the overall message is that the answers to the questions are in the forum just waiting to be discovered.

this was before Jimbo's last post