Thread: What Makes A Great Strop

I have a few local leather guys with stores here,....

what makes a great leather strop, why shouldnt i just walk into his show with a picture and say make please,... if he has no knowledge of straight strops

or if he has good leather thats flat is that something i should look into at least to price ?

im going to look into a TM strop or one from SRD for myself anyway,... but thought hey there is this guy a block away i have a coat from him i had made in highschool and its still a supple as the day i got it without cracks or anything and no stitch loss, he obviously knows how to make a quality item, but probably has never made a strop, but then i have never asked so maybe he has

should i stay away,
or at least inquire

my mind wants to know

I myself have used Tandy leather here. I bought some cowhide, 3"wide x 50" long. I made a few paddles. Hanging strops would have been easier, You just need a bit of hardware. Handles aren't really needed. Most leather shops I know including Tandy have varieties of leather. The Tandy here even had Kangaroo, so you can get whatever you want.

Most of the treatments are optional, Feel or Draw is personal preference. Cowhide works just fine imo. I'd tell him what I was planning to do, check out some samples, and go from there.

I am not sure honestly. I have made my own strops that I load with various grits of diamonds for sharpening knives, but with razors...

I started with a strip of leather that came from a place like you mention. It worked JUST FINE for my needs...but, it did not have the nice swivel and clip to hang it from my towel rack, and it did not have the nice handles. It also had no component for linen.

When I started looking into the components to make a strop the way I wanted it, the cost was within a few-20 bucks to get something that not only looked really nice, but was guaranteed to work nicely (and was already prepared/seasoned for the purpose).

So in the end, it made sense to not DIY on this one. YMMV

Sorry I'm very new to strops, can you describe draw?

Is this how we describe the friction and how smoothly that razor passes over the leather, meaning the resistance?

Syngent, Draw is the resistance to your stropping stroke, caused by friction. Some leathers or finishes give greater or lesser resistance. An example of low resistance material would be 'shell', which is not really leather, but used like leather. 'Almost no resistance at all. Latigo would be considered a high resistance leather. I understand buffalo is also high resistance.

There's controversy as to whether or not resistance has beneficial properties, other than personal preference. There are also controversies about whether or not a particular kind of steel is best served by a particular kind of strop material. IMHO, I think we don't have as much knowledge recovery in the area of stropping, yet. That makes me avoid emphatic statements about 'best', 'always', 'never', etc.

For anyone recently interested in strops and stropping, Glen's 3/11 beginner's tip thread is golden. Hope this fills in a gap or two.

I'll check it out man thanks

Some strops achieve greatness, some have greatness thrust upon them: some strops take a while to hit their stride before they become great - you have to work them and be patient. Some strops are great straight away - high quality leather and fit and finish.

Personally I prefer a thin strop and use kangaroo leather almost exclusively nowadays. But in the end, a great strop is one that does its job IMO.

James.

Im kind of thinking since im new and cant really tell whats good and what isn't, i should just stick with something proven for now and then with experience under my belt later maybe look into the local guy,...

I gave him a call and had to explain what a strop is lmao so i dont think maybe its a good idea


at least yet

This what you want, 50 inches long, select your width 3 inch. You get a 20 inch strop once you cut it in half, and two 12 inch board strops (you can just use a couple foot long pieces of 2x4) contact cement the leather to the wood.

Tandy Leather Factory - Natural Cowhide Leather Strips

Originally Posted by syngent

Im kind of thinking since im new and cant really tell whats good and what isn't, i should just stick with something proven for now and then with experience under my belt later maybe look into the local guy,...

I gave him a call and had to explain what a strop is lmao so i dont think maybe its a good idea


at least yet

I really agree with the idea of being new and not able to appreciate the differences (I feel this way at times) OTOH, you are new and there is no point in making the learning curve any steeper than needed by using gear that may not be optimal....OTOH still, as a new guy you will likely damage your first strop (most do)...OTOH, you would probably like a less wishy washy answer...and that is the point.

There is merit to almost any decision as long as it leads to learning and improvement.

I like Latigo with the nice little clip/swivel and D-rings. If your local guy can make something similar and you love it...you should be good to go

I would also suggest that it will probably be a while before most new shavers will understand/appreciate and be able to consistently duplicate the results they want with a strop anyway Don't take my words as pontificating or anything like that...it is just what I have noticed in my own experiences in the last few months