Hi guys: my brother-in-law offered me several tanned elk & mule deer hides -- anyone have an opinion on whether either of these would be good stropping material (in lieu of horse or cow hide)? I'm going to make several stropping paddles for home and hunting -- thanks!
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Stropping Leather
- Thread starter Mint427
- Start date
The deer hide will be fine for convexing edges but may ruin flat bevels. The elk is probably too thick and soft. All the elk hides I've worked with have been between 1/8 - 1/4 inch thick, and soft as butter. For stropping flat bevels, harder is better. Cowhide that's been severely compressed is a safe bet, and if it's veg-tanned leather, it will be cheap, and easy enough to compress it yourself. I'd save the elk hide for bags, vests, and pouches instead. It has a wonderful feel to it that makes it great for items that get handled.
Stitchawl
Stitchawl
You can't go wrong with either of those if they are properly compressed. There is just no way to compress the elk hide sufficiently because of its open cellular structure. I have a piece of elk on the edge my desk that I use as a wrist cushion. No padding, just the hide. It's thick enough and soft enough to protect against the edge. Most Kangaroo that is sold for strops seems to be 'splits...' the very, very thin top layer of the hide only. Using the entire skin would run into the same sort of problem as the elk. The advantage of horse hide is that it is very dense, making a much firmer substrate, while at the same time, the surface of the hide is extremely tight. Veg-tanned cowhide can be wetted and compressed (cased) to give the same density, but with a differing surface feel. Over all, horse hide, especially the section just in front of the horses rump/butt (called the 'shell') has traditionally been the choice of barber strops for over two hundred years. With good reason... It works best. It has stood 'the test of time.' Horse 'butt' has been a close second. Other cuts of horse hide aren't nearly as dense or effective as these two. Try them all. In the end, it really comes down to personal preference.
Stitchawl
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2012
- Messages
- 4,437
Remember that before you put leather on a strop, you should prepare it. I saw a tutorial on it a little while back, but I think the steps were to soak the leather, roll it, then let it dry fully. Preparing the leather compresses it and brings out the natural silicates in the leather which will help produce a finer edge.
I strongly suggest looking up how to prep leather, though. I am probably missing a lot of steps.
I strongly suggest looking up how to prep leather, though. I am probably missing a lot of steps.
You're pretty darn close... No need to 'soak' the leather, though. Just wet it well under the tap (cold water is fine,) then allow it to dry for just about an hour only. Then roll the hell out of it with as heavy a 'rolling pin' as you can find (real rolling pin, 4" PVC pipe, anything 'smooth'.) The longer you roll, the better the result. 5 minutes is good, 10 minutes is better, 20-30 minutes is great! (The old Russian Leather strop treatment took SEVERAL DAYS of compressing!) Then let the leather dry naturally. When fully dry (24-48 hours) apply just a small amount of leather conditions (Lexol, Shoe Cream [NOT WAX]) or a few drops of pure neatsfoot oil. Baseball glove conditioner will work too, but if you're using any of the oils, ya really gotta use it sparingly. A few drops will do the whole strop. With Shoe Cream from the local shoe store or department store, 2-3 pea-sized beads will be perfect for a 10"x4" strop. You don't want to soften the leather, you want to nourish it. Repeat the conditioner every 2-3 years.
Do NOT try to do this with anything other than vegetable-tanned leather. It won't work. If the leather has been chrome-tanned (such as garment leather,) oil-tanned or oil-stuffed (such as Latigo or English Bridal leather,) the cell structure has been permanently changed already and all the wetting and rolling in the world won't make a different
Stitchawl
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