Thread: How to make a custom strop?

I found a website that sells canvas for tents but i am unsure if it would be appropriate for my services.
Tent Canvas - Sunforger Army Duck Canvas Fabric | Natural | 10.10 ounce | 60" wide | Wholesale

It's been awhile since I dealt with a canvas tent but I would think from what I remember I think that canvas would work

Before I start I should point out that I am a *strictly* amateur strop maker in every sense of the word! I have made three so far (and will add a fourth once I pick up some more D-rings) and while they work they also serve as a reminder of the skill and craftsmanship of the true pros. So take this for what it's worth...

Do you have a leather shop handy? My local shop is a Tandy affiliate but I honestly don't know whether the leather that I have bought from them is the same as is available via Tandy or their own stuff. Either way, I would *strongly* encourage you only to buy the leather in person if at all possible. The first strops I made were from vegetable tanned cowhide and it worked really well although I noticed a flaw towards one end of the strip. I made two from that piece, selling one to a friend and keeping the one with the flaw for myself. Last weekend I picked up a piece of brown buffalo that is *flawless* in its entire length. This is why I encourage you to pick it out in person if at all possible! Having learned my lesson from my first attempt, I carefully examined five strips (they were 3" x about 51", different widths were available) and four of them had flaws that I easily could have overlooked. Because I was able to pick out the piece in person, I'll be sure to get two v.good strops from that piece.

In terms of tools and hardware, I used an x-acto type knife and a straightedge to cut to length, a 5/16 punch (like this Tandy Leather Factory - Craftool Round Drive Punches ) to cut out notches to fit my D-rings, another (a cheaper version of this Tandy Leather Factory - Craftool Pro Rotary Leather Punch ) to make the holes for the rivets, some double-cap rivets, and a hammer for the riveting. That's about it. For Hardware, I put a D-ring at each end, and have a clip that I use to fix the strop to my anchor point.

I just realized I should add pics... Will come back and add those shortly.

Anyway, I'd encourage you to have a go! It is fun and while you won't end up with a strop that rivals anything done by a pro, I find it very satisfying to use something that I made from scratch as part of my shaving ritual. Good luck!

OK. Here are some pics of Cangooner Enterprises Strops #1 and #3. #1 (lighter) is vegetable tanned cowhide and #3 (brown) is buffalo.



Here you can see the end of #3 and how I had to notch the leather to make the D-ring fit.



And this is why I bought the 5/16 hole punch. I tried to cut the notches by hand on #1 and it turned out pretty ugly.



The back side



And the flaw on #1 that I missed in-store. It looks worse than it is, but there is one rough spot I need to avoid while stropping.



Anyway, that's what mine look like. Look forward to seeing yours!

Wow, that is impressive work, what would be your recommended thickness. Also would you consider it wise to buy a hide and just cut it to my liking? Also i notice you really seem to stress avoiding imperfections in leather, does it effect the stropping? I am one of those people who are fond of imperfections.

Thanks.

As for thickness I adopted a highly scientific approach of buying whatever the thickness was that they had at the store. (as I said... amateur) Turns out it is about 1/8" thick.

I suppose you could cut your own pieces if you like. The thing I liked about these are that a) they are already dead straight and b) I don't really have a means of cutting anything approaching straight lines in heavy leather. They had quite a variety of widths available too, so there's a good chance you might find the width you want pre-made.

I like imperfections as well but when it comes to strops I personally prefer those imperfections to be cosmetic. Strop #1 has a bit in the darker splotch near the edge that is really quite rough. Because of this I try to avoid having the edge of the blade contact that part of the strop. The rest of the darker part is absolutely fine in terms of stropping and I kind of like how it looks too. I'm just afraid that the rough bit might adversely affect the edge which would kid of defeat the purpose of stropping. So when I say flawless and free of imperfections, I don't mean in terms of colour or appearance, but rather the surface itself. And since I really make these things for myself I don't have to worry about it looking perfect for sale.

Here is my 2 sense. <play on words not misspelled. :<0)

Tandy has some nice leather but it is a little pricey. The red latigo straps I love but not wide enough like pixel said. I started to make one out of (tandy) black latigo and used it for a month or so on a board trying to decide my strop design and looking for a piece of canvas. I bought a piece of horse hide online from a leather site. I sent them an e-mail asking if they had some old guy around that knew what would be best to make a strop out of, and I told them I was thinking horse (which they didn't advertise as having). Low and behold they sent me a paypal invoice for 10 bucks and 4 days later I got it. I asked for 3" by 19" piece but a cut in the side made me run it through the strap cutter to 2 3/4". I used that on a board for awhile and liked it a little more than the latigo. I bought an old Shell horse hide strop on e-bay and it was pitiful but I wanted the canvas. I bought 2 more strops online and..... now I am lost. Oh yeah so I am not sure what the best feel is for a strop but from what I have seen from what I have bought smoother is better. For my taste anyway.

The horse hide.
The small piece is what I trimmed off and in the state it came in, which may have been just fine but I can't leave anything alone and wanted to go for smooth. So I took my horse hide and sanded what little grain there was out. I gave it a quick 500k dusting and then went over it more with 1000k paper. This took off some of the dye and made it blotchy looking. Then I used liquid glycerin to clean it and add some moisture/preservative back into it. Then I burnished it with a smooth aerosol can and it darkened back up and then some. I have some Redwing boot oil and may just use that on it when it's done to finish it. The dark spots are where I did most of the sanding. I could sand some more and go for even color but I am not concerned with color. I also have a few oil base dyes if I want to make it a dark brown.




Out of the 3 canvas straps I have I think I am going to use the one on the right. Mainly because it is softer. The one on the far left is hard as rock but looks brand new and finer weave. The DD is just going to go back together and will be part of my DD collection/display. It is the Momma bear of the 3,just right, but the eyelet and the fact that it goes with that thick old leather strop keeps me from seperating the 2.

The problem I have had is the canvas part. Saving an old one from an e-bay strop has been my solution so far. When I finally give in to that idea I will finish my first strop.

reality may be,you may not need the fabric/canvas,at all.

Which site did you find the 3" by 19" Leather? Sorry but a very amateurish statement, 3 by 19 means 3 inches wide and 19 long?

Originally Posted by Themagicturtle

Which site did you find the 3" by 19" Leather? Sorry but a very amateurish statement, 3 by 19 means 3 inches wide and 19 long?

Found it..... This is the page for requesting a piece. Don't forget to fill in the the project detail part. Tell them you want BB smooth strop. Maybe other things besides horse if you wish. I sent them an e-mail first through the "contact us link" and they looked around in their scrape bin to find it. It will take them awhile to respond sometimes but I trust them so far. They gave me just what I asked for. I don't know what all they have laying around but the sell big pieces of leather. I found it while looking for leather to redo my truck seats. Good luck and let me know how they treated you. Oh and yes 3" wide x 19 long " is what I asked for. Ask for what ever size you want. You could get 3"long and 19" wide :<0) Now the thickness is measured by weight. On that I just trusted them to send me strop thickness LOL. But I think you would need at least an 8 to 10 oz. some wheres in there.

Brettuns Village Leather - Leather by the Piece