Thread: The Superior Shave Horween shell cordovan strop

Jarrod at The Superior Shave website has an interesting writeup on the Horween shell cordovan strops. He says that they're only 1.4mm thick, which is significantly thinner than horsehide or cowhide. As to the delicate feel of the shell cordovan, he says that he has stropped 2,000 razors on his current Horween, and that it is as durable as a thicker horsehide or latigo. This addresses any concerns I have about durability. I'm still getting the feel for this strop, but I rank it as one of my 3 favorite stropping surfaces, with the other two being horsehide and the Tony Miller premium steerhide.

mine is the same very thin yet very strong i've been stropping religously on mine for a good year , and its still as new...

Traskrom, the Superior Shave shop strop you pictured is without question genuine shell leather processed and given the cordovan finish by Horween. It is a bit on the thin side but that has absolutley no effect on the strop, it is perfectly strong and
a superb strop. These are fairly rare and Jarrod gets them rarely and they are costly.

Not to derail too much - but how do you guys feel about the lack of D-rings? I haven't ever had a strop without some type of handle or another. Does it make for a smaller usible area?

Originally Posted by lz6

Traskrom, the Superior Shave shop strop you pictured is without question genuine shell leather processed and given the cordovan finish by Horween. It is a bit on the thin side but that has absolutley no effect on the strop, it is perfectly strong and
a superb strop. These are fairly rare and Jarrod gets them rarely and they are costly.

Yea, I am pretty sure it is. I did my homework I've been looking for shell cordovan for more than a year. It is 2.35 mm thick at the end and 2.15 mm at the very top

Originally Posted by earcutter

Not to derail too much - but how do you guys feel about the lack of D-rings? I haven't ever had a strop without some type of handle or another. Does it make for a smaller usible area?

I have strops with leather handles, D rings and several plain end like my Kanayamas. On my plain end strops I slide the strop, with my thumb up, between my first and second fingers and then using my thumb roll the end of the strop over which helps
me exert an even pressure and the strop which helps with even tension across the leather. A little less stropping area on some lengths obviously but better for the end of the strops with repeated use. Hope that made some sense. : )

Originally Posted by lz6

I have strops with leather handles, D rings and several plain end like my Kanayamas. On my plain end strops I slide the strop, with my thumb up, between my first and second fingers and then using my thumb roll the end of the strop over which helps
me exert an even pressure and the strop which helps with even tension across the leather. A little less stropping area on some lengths obviously but better for the end of the strops with repeated use. Hope that made some sense. : )

LOL - hard to word hu, but yeah, it made sense lol. Thanks. Sounds like a bit of work to get used to, but not that big of a deal once there. Like anything I guess.

One day

On my 2" shell strop from The Superior Shave there is no handle, but I lay the leather on the linen back (which does have a handle of sorts) and hold the linen taut. There's so little draw that I don't need to hold the leather in any way. To me, that actually adds stropping surface, at the risk of running into my own hand.

The commentary about the draw, I use a poor man's strop of horse butt strips. It was very stiff and abrasive when it was new, but it was cheap. It never has had any draw, and as far as draw goes, well, I don't get the draw (bad pun intended).

Skipping over from cow leather and having just read Holtzapffel III's description of what makes a good razor strop, from back when people used them because they had to, the harder leathers make a better performing strop if maintenance of the edge is concerned. I don't remember the exact words, but the account in the book described softer leathers as being of little use.

So I would worry about the quality of the surface and not the thickness. Shell will tear easily if you stretch it too far, but it's otherwise very tough. I can't see thickness being an issue as long as it's not too soft.

After finally getting my plain horse butt strip worn in (I just cut a 28x3" piece out of 8/9 ounce strip that I got cheap off of ebay), it almost indefinitely keeps my razors honed, and the hardness makes it so that you can pull it fairly tight and use a decent amount of pressure once an edge is 2 or 3 weeks old and still get a fantastic edge off of the leather. The last go-around, I stretched an edge 55 shaves, and it was still sharp, but I got a new hone and I got the bug to try it.

With my softer latigo strops, extra pressure is a no-go sort of thing, it might work once, but that's it. So the horse butt has little draw, but I don't know why I'd want it to. It has a shine on the surface now and it would be difficult to misuse it, even pressure wise, unless it's allowed to go slack.

Earcutter, know what you are saying about the rings. I like the D rings myself. Recently bought a Kanayama and really thought about it because of the lack of rings or handle. But I got used to it and love it, especially the brushed leather strop in place of linen, works great with CBN edges that are too fine for linen. I also make my own strops and find that 18 inches is all I really need.

I tried to order a Horween shell cordovan and they were out, want one before he stops making them.