Thread: How to make new horse leather strop?

How to make new horse leather strop? Did anyone have try it? What part of horse leather should be used on strop?
What horse leather part (for old vintage horse strops) was used in past?

First you have to get a horse ..... then ......

Kidding aside, I made one out of a piece of horse butt I got from Keith DeGrau of HandAmerican. It works alright. Pretty straight forward. You have to cut it to shape, treat it with neatsfoot ( a little goes a long way) and that is about it. The pro strop makers have their trade secrets on treating the leather but it works well enough as is.

It was my understanding that most of the horse stops came from either the butt area or the back. I may be wrong though.

"Horse butt strips" (look them up online) if you want to make a cheap one for yourself.

You need to get some that's relatively smooth (it's stiff and abrasive) and wear it in. I put just the tiniest amount of neatsfoot on mine, and then allowed it to break in. It was a bit coarse at first, but now it is better than any of the bought strops I have (which are all cowhide). it's got a nice used-strop glaze on the surface and the last go-around, I used it for almost 2 months (bare leather only, no loaded strops, etc) before reintroducing the razor to the hone.

I cannibalized hardware off of one of those $10 ebay strops - it's an ugly setup, but it works great.

Might be good to find one of the online retail sellers who sells horse butt strips so that you can tell the retailer what you're using it for and stress that you'd like it to be as smooth as possible.

I made a 2 3/4" wide horsebutt strop and am very satisfied with its performance.
Google "holster makers" and find a shop that will sell you a piece of horse butt so you can cut your own strop.

I also bought some English Bridle from a shop in Maine. Narragansett Leathers - Handcrafted Leather Goods - Home Page

JERRY
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There's a guy in Tucson who has a bunch of these hides. I think he sells them for $25-$30 and you can get at least 3-three inch wide pieces 24-30 inches long. Let me know if you need his number.

drmatt357
yes, please send me number.

I could use that number..

Sorry about the delay Sid. The name of the shop is Rocking J Leather and the Gents name is Ron and his phone number is (520) 884-7579. Let him know it's the hides that Dr. Matt used for his strops. Let me know how it works out.