stropping leather?

A

aread

Joined
Aug 8, 2012
Messages
147
In the other thread, horse hide seems to be a good choice for a strop. At least among the obtainable leathers.

How does kangaroo leather compare to horse hide ?

I see Ken Swartz is making strops from kangaroo. Is it equal, better, not as good?

The local Tandy has Kangaroo on sale, but doesn't have horse. If it's as good, I thought I'd try it out.

Thanks,
Allen
 
I strop on bare kangaroo leather. It is excellent. Horsehide is great, too. Ask knifenut, he has studied the difference in animal hides and their effect on a final edge. I can say that kangaroo hide puts a nice refined edge on and leaves just the right amount of "bite" in the final edge. It's really great for most purposes like kitchen knives and pocket knives.
 
They both work equally as well and have slight but noticable differences in the final edge. Horse hide makes the edge a little smoother and a bit "sticky" to the touch. Roo tends to bring upon a polish a bit quicker and leave a more "toothy" bite when felt. Good stuff and hard to go wrong with either.
 
Horse butt and kangaroo hide are both used as high end finishing strops by the straight razor guys. That is why they are more expensive. If you are honing a straight, it makes a difference how smooth and flat your leather is.

For anything else, regular leather works fine. It makes way more difference what you put on the leather than what kind of leather it is.
 
Thanks guys!! I guess the obvious solution is to get both and see which works best for me. :)
 
hey stitchawl,

i've tried to find the topic where you explain how to roll leather to harden it and bring the silicates to the surface, no luck yet.

could you please direct me ? thanks.
 
pwet said:
hey stitchawl,

i've tried to find the topic where you explain how to roll leather to harden it and bring the silicates to the surface, no luck yet.

could you please direct me ? thanks.
Click to expand...

I have absolutely NO idea which thread I wrote that in. Actually, I've written it in a couple of different threads! But as it's so simple but effective, I'll gladly do it again...

Using vegetable tanned leather ONLY (someone complained that my method didn't work, then mentioned that he was trying it on latigo leather and bridal leather, both of which are oil-treated as part of the production process...)
Wet the leather under running water. Don't soak it. Just pass it back and forth under the tap to get it completely wet. The color will change dramatically from light tan to dark brown. Shake off excess water and set it aside to dry for 2-3 hours, or until you see the color turning back, getting lighter. It will still be damp. Be careful at this point not to indent the leather surface, even with your fingernails. The leather will be the consistency of firm clay.
On a hard surface (for you in the kitchen use the baker's marble top,) put the leather hair side down and roll with a heavy rolling pin. Again, the baker's heavy rolling pin will work fine. Just keep rolling over the leather with pressure. The longer you roll, the better off it will be. 20 minutes of rolling will make for a very effective bare leather strop. Now move the leather to a warm dry area and just let it dry completely. One day if your are in a very low humidity area, or two-three days if your are in the tropics. When it's completely dry, use some good quality shoe cream (NOT shoe POLISH or WAX!) and rub it in well. You can apply it to both sides if you are going to use as a hanging strop, or just the working side if you're going to glue it down to a bench block.

Wetting the leather and letting it partially dry is called 'casing' the leather. If you wish to make a form-fitted sheath or holster, this is the state of the leather when you can model it like clay using a bone folder or other modeling tools. The leather is easily compressed when it's in this state, and will maintain that compression as it dries.

As to 'why' this brings more silicates to the surface, I can only surmise... There simply is no place left for them to go! If you are pushing from the 'bottom' of the leather, everything there is migrating towards the top! This includes the silicates. I haven't seen any laboratory testing done to validate this, but my own anecdotal evidence supports it. Simply put, I've tried using un-cased bare leather and cased bare leather, with pieces cut from the same hide side-by-side. The cased leather worked better. I obtained a better edge with fewer strokes on the strop.

Adding a leather conditioner (that doesn't soften the leather) will revitalize the leather. You really should do this at least once or twice a year to any bare leather strop. Most shaving supplies websites sell 'strop conditioning cream' but any good quality shoe cream will work just as well. You only need about 2-3 pea-sized gobs of the stuff spread out and worked into the leather.


Stitchawl
 
thanks much, i'll try asap. i got a couple of decent sized veg tanned cowhide scraps and i'm in touch with a sheat maker for a prject i'll ask him to sell me 2 strop sized pieces of horse hide to test.

thanks.
 
pwet said:
thanks much, i'll try asap. i got a couple of decent sized veg tanned cowhide scraps and i'm in touch with a sheat maker for a prject i'll ask him to sell me 2 strop sized pieces of horse hide to test.

thanks.
Click to expand...

I've never heard of any sheath makers who use horsehide for their work. It's really not the ideal choice of leather for either a knife sheath nor a holster, except when used for the back side of the project. It is a lot stronger than cowhide, and when used 'flat' adds that strength to the contruction. However, strength isn't really needed there, and the cost usually doesn't warrant it.. Here is a horsehide holster. It doesn't case as well as cowhide, which is why the old strop makers needed several days of working the hide before it was ready to be turned into a strop. 'Most' cowhide cases very well as you can see here, showing every line of weapon, (depending upon the location of the leather cut. Belly leather doesn't case well at ALL, while shoulder bends are simply fantastic!) which is why it's so prevalent in holster making.

Stitchawl
 
parbajtor said:
Horsehide belts last a lot longer than most other leathers.
Click to expand...

They should. Horsehide is much stronger than cowhide. But strength isn't what's needed here.
Firm substance and high silicate count are. And horsehide has both, especially if processed that way it needs to be for a really good strop. Horsehide needs to be cordovan processed to be really high quality.


Stitchawl
 
stitchawl said:
Using vegetable tanned leather ONLY (someone complained that my method didn't work, then mentioned that he was trying it on latigo leather and bridal leather, both of which are oil-treated as part of the production process...)



Stitchawl
Click to expand...

I going to assume that you are talking about what I replied with in an earlier thread

That is an interesting opinion on how I felt about the casing process since this was my statement...

"I came across your post about casing the leather. I tried your method with the rolling pin a few times (even killed the handles from downward pressure). I didn't like the result or better yet the draw of the leather. It took away the feedback I need when stropping. I tried casing tooling, latigo, skirting, bridle and cordovan and none seemed improved in my honest opinion."

Your statement of not being able to case other leathers is far from true as anyone that works with horse saddlery cases all kinds of leather.

Also, looking back at my statement I put cordovan in there and that was a mistake on my part.
 
capid1 said:
I going to assume that you are talking about what I replied with in an earlier thread

That is an interesting opinion on how I felt about the casing process since this was my statement...

"I came across your post about casing the leather. I tried your method with the rolling pin a few times (even killed the handles from downward pressure). I didn't like the result or better yet the draw of the leather. It took away the feedback I need when stropping. I tried casing tooling, latigo, skirting, bridle and cordovan and none seemed improved in my honest opinion."

Your statement of not being able to case other leathers is far from true as anyone that works with horse saddlery cases all kinds of leather.

Also, looking back at my statement I put cordovan in there and that was a mistake on my part.
Click to expand...


You said, and I'll quote for accuracy, "I tried casing tooling, latigo, skirting, bridle and cordovan..."
Five different leathers of which THREE don't case either well or at all. Latigo leather is oil-filled during its processing and doesn't case at all, bridle leather is oil-filled after its processing and cases poorly, and cordovan is a split hide that has already been compressed. These three do NOT case properly which is why you will never see them used for tooling or molding. And if they don't case properly, then the method that I spoke of won't work. Yes, tooling and skirting leather will case. They are both vegetable tanned leather with no oils added.

I'll suggest (and it's only a suggestion,) that if you don't find this method works for you, don't use it. Those of use who have been successfully using it for the last 100-200 years will probably continue. This wasn't something I invented. Antibiotics don't work for some people. This doesn't mean antibiotics don't work. Fountain pens don't work for some people either, especially for cleaning their ears. This doesn't mean fountain pens don't work for those who know how to use them correctly.

Stitchawl
 
Yes, I wrote cordovan and admitted that was an error on my part. However, I did not say the casing method did not work. It's pretty clear I said I did not like result or better yet the draw.

I hate fountain pens due to my left hand smearing everything :)
 
capid1 said:
Yes, I wrote cordovan and admitted that was an error on my part. However, I did not say the casing method did not work. It's pretty clear I said I did not like result or better yet the draw.
Click to expand...

Yes, I realize that. But if the casing method doesn't work, there is no reason for the resultant draw to be any better. Nor the results of the stropping. As I said, everyone finds their own preferences. There is no 'universal' right or wrong. What works for one may not work for another.

I hate fountain pens due to my left hand smearing everything :)
Click to expand...

Having the same problem, I agree with you completely! Thank God for Pilot Gel pens that don't smear ink all over the bottom of my hand and the page!

Stitchawl
 
Ladies and gentlemen - I present to you, a heated argument between two grown ups. Notice the lack of attacks and the increase of information.
Up next, the government working...

Seriously though, thank you Stitchawl for the very helpful run through - I actually saw your post a few years ago, and couldn't find it and just typed in "strop marble rolling pin" in Google. Here I am. Capid1, thanks for that addition - esp in HOW you reply. I've gained from this.
 
Oh my gosh! First I learned about different steels for knives, then I found that I need properly sharpen them, then I found that I need to study the theory of ceramics and grids and oils and ... that was not it. Now I need to learn about leathers :eek:!!! So my belt will not work and I need to look for veg treated kangaroo strip of leather?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top