Horsehide strop leather!

chococrazy said:
Read down on the ebay article it says it's made with Genuine leather (I think it mentions Horse Hide).
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It says "horse butt facsimile pillow." "Facsimile" being the operative word.

It also says "Hand Painted Leather sculpture" It says it's a 'soft sculpture.' I doubt Horsehide from the rear of a horse would be 'soft.'

It does say that it's made with genuine leather but it doesn't say that it's made with genuine horsehide leather. I would think THAT would be a selling point if asking $125 for a small pillow.

The leather for horse butt doesn't come from the area on the back of the leg next to the tail as seen in the pillow. It comes from the skin that covers the sides of the rear legs. This can be seen in the illustrations of the horsehide leather cuts on
http://horween.com/index.php/leathers/ under 'Equine Hide Shapes.'

It does, however, talk of using an authentic horsehair tail. :)

I suppose the only real way to be sure would be to ask the woman who is making them. I'll send off an e-mail and find out for sure.

Stitchawl
 
OK... I sent an e-mail to her asking if the pillow itself is made from horsehide or cowhide. Give her a day or so to answer and we'll know for sure.

Stitchawl
 
Ben Dover said:
Is anyone here familar with the process whereby "Russian Red" leather is made for barber strops?????:confused::confused:
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Here is a summery of what I've discovered as I've researched the stuff.
The old process of making "Russian Red" leather strops was a labor-intensive hand-done operation. It begins with high quality horsehide leather from the hindquarters only, the area called 'shells.' This is the thickest, densest part of the horsehide found on the sides of the horse's rear legs. There are two egg-shaped sections about 18"x 30" joined by a bridge going over the spine about 8-12" wide. After vegetable tanning, the hides are 'boned,' worked over a rounded surface about the size of a vollyball using a rounded end of some hard object, i.e. bone, hardwood, antler, etc., rubbing, pressing, and compressing the leather. This boning was done for several hours, if not days, while turning and moving the leather shells over the rounded base.
(This is thought to be the reason for the decline of availability of Russian Red leather today. It's just way too labor intensive to make it cost effective.)

In the Horween's video you can see a machine which does what they call 'glazing,' which uses a metal roller and heavy pressure to do something similar to 'boning' to their shell leather. I have no idea of the actual difference between the results of this and the old hand boning process. However, my old grandfather's Russian Red razor strop looks and, more importantly, feels exactly like the piece of Horween leather that I received last week. Feels to my hand and feels when I strop across them both with a blade.

Stitchawl
 
Thanks, Stitch! :thumbup:

I had the good fortune to acquire two "Russian Red" barber strops at a garage sale for a very appealling price. :D

Both were well used, and a bit dirty, but otherwise in good condition.

I've cleaned them up, and rubbed in a bit of " strop dressing" that I acquired from my barber.

One strop was kept original and plain, while the other was halved for use with .25 and .1 micron diamond compound. The difference in performance between these strops, and two that I made from cowhide is quite noticeable with the finest diamond compounds. (Especially on convex edges.) :)
 
Ben Dover said:
Thanks, Stitch! :thumbup:
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You're welcome. I wish there was more I could share. This really seems to be a lost art and I couldn't find out very much information at all. I wish I had access to the New York Public library's reading room so I could get 'inside' some of the old leather working books. The Internet is good, but there is nothing like a huge library for doing research!

I had the good fortune to acquire two "Russian Red" barber strops at a garage sale for a very appealling price. :D

Both were well used, and a bit dirty, but otherwise in good condition.

I've cleaned them up, and rubbed in a bit of " strop dressing" that I acquired from my barber.

One strop was kept original and plain, while the other was halved for use with .25 and .1 micron diamond compound. The difference in performance between these strops, and two that I made from cowhide is quite noticeable with the finest diamond compounds. (Especially on convex edges.) :)
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Fantastic find!! The luck goes around, I guess! Use them in good health. Do you happen to know the name of the strop dressing that the barber gave you? Dressings and compounds are going to be my next area of investigation.

Many years (50?) ago a old Italian barber in my neighborhood used to put some sort of 'stuff' on the BACK side of his leather strop, and then melt it in with a hair dryer. The 'stuff' looked and felt like Vaseline but wasn't, and his English language skills weren't up to the task any better than my 13 year old skill with Italian! :o

Hanging strops, by the nature of the design, are at their best when use for convexed edges. Straight razors have such thin final edges that without high power magnification you can't see the convex shape but that's what happens when you use either a flexible hanging strop or a soft bench pad with them. I used to use a hanging strop for my Buck Stockman back in the day, but began laying it down on the table top in later years.

Have fun with your new toys! They should serve you well and be something to pass down to the next generation of little Dovers! :D

Stitchawl
 
chococrazy said:
Back to the original topic
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The original topic was horsehide. Boning was a technique used on horsehide to raise the silicates to the surface of the leather.

@Stitch Pics or it didn't happen :O.
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O.K.... here's one for you
eq-shells.jpg

although I think the shells are easier to see in the Horween video as he's cutting them out. (Wonder what knife he's using. Must be mighty sharp!) Mine don't look like this any more. Now they look like strops! :D

Stitchawl
 
I called the barber and he uses "Fromes" (I hope I spelled it correctly)



He said it was especially formulated for barber strops.
 
Hmmm... No joy. I haven't been able to find anything with that name or any permutations of the name. I'll keep trying. Everybody seems to want to sell Dovo.
I did, however find a horsehide strop for under $20!
http://bestgroomingtools.com/horsehide-leather-and-canvas-barber-strop-p-395.html
I don't know anything about it, but for $20 bucks I'd give it a shot. It might be a composit; i.e. thin horsehide on top of a backing layer of cowhide. That would still do the trick!

Stitchawl
 
Stitch,

I called my barber to check the name and spelling.

He said the stuff he gave me was "Fromm's Strop Dressing."

It feels like Jergens Hand Lotion, and he cautioned me (again) against using more than a small dab of it! :thumbup:
 
Ben Dover said:
Stitch,

I called my barber to check the name and spelling.

He said the stuff he gave me was "Fromm's Strop Dressing."

It feels like Jergens Hand Lotion, and he cautioned me (again) against using more than a small dab of it! :thumbup:
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Thanks! THAT did the trick. Google picked up several hits, including Amazon.com for $10 a bottle. I have a feeling a bottle of this stuff will last several lifetimes, and knowing Amazon, I'm sure the shipping will cost me three times what the product cost too! I wish I knew what was it it. Probably get the same sort of thing here and not have to deal with shipping costs. It would be a fun project to try to make up some myself.

Let's see... you said it feels like Jurgen's Hand Lotion, so that pretty much rules out neetsfoot oil and waxes. Maybe it's some sort of lanolin compound... What does it smell like?

Stitchawl
 
chococrazy said:
Can we get some pics of the strops you made.
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Sorry, Choco. No camera right now. But really, all they look like is two blocks of wood covered with leather (my bench strops) one 14" long and the other 9" long. Both are 3" wide The hanging strop has a D-ring and swivel stitched and riveted to one end and a stiff cowhide 'handle' at the other end. Strictly utilitarian. Nothing fancy.

Opps! Just remembered... I also made an odd-ball shaped one 8"x4" on a piece of MDF I had lying around. And I have a strip of hide that's 1" wide x 10" long just sitting next to my keyboard so I can strop while watching a video!

Stitchawl
 
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Unfortunately, two sinus surgeries have cost me most of my sense of smell.

Why don't you just bring a small container to your barber next haircut and "mooch" a small supply of whatever preparation he uses? :p
 
Ben Dover said:
Unfortunately, two sinus surgeries have cost me most of my sense of smell.

Why don't you just bring a small container to your barber next haircut and "mooch" a small supply of whatever preparation he uses? :p
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Ah! A good idea... except for the fact that I haven't been in a barber shop since the day I mustard out of he military 43 years ago. But I suppose I could go around the corner and find a barber just sitting, relaxing, and reading the 'Sumo Times' who'd be sympathetic to the cause. Thanks for the idea!

I have a couple of contact lens cases, separated into single units that I often use for greases; silicon O-ring grease for scuba equipment, Vaseline for cotton-ball tinder, Anti-Fog stuff for lenses... This would just be one more!

Stitchawl


Stitchawl
 
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