Sweet Strop Action

T

timbit

Joined
Jul 21, 2011
Messages
1,011
I recently walked into a local leather craft supply shop and found a nice 12"x12" square of bark tanned cow-hide , un-dyed for $5! A buddy of mine had some 4" wide MDF slabs kicking around he wanted to get rid of...

I've just acquired the materials for 3 x 4" wide 12" long strops for a whopping $5 + glue. :D. I think I will give two of them away for christmas presents and keep the third for myself.

:D
 
Very good. :thumbup:

At the risk of encouraging another human being to be selfish, you might think about hanging on to a 2nd or 3rd for yourself, and try each with different compounds. There's a lot to be learned in experimenting with all the different possibilities. Of course, you can always go back and get some more leather and materials to make more for your friends. ;)
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
Very good. :thumbup:

At the risk of encouraging another human being to be selfish, you might think about hanging on to a 2nd or 3rd for yourself, and try each with different compounds. There's a lot to be learned in experimenting with all the different possibilities. Of course, you can always go back and get some more leather and materials to make more for your friends. ;)
Click to expand...
I'd considered doing this :) I like bare leather strops myself, especially if they are premium full grain leather. I add compound to cardboard and have had very good results stropping this way... Although...you can never have TOO many strops can you? I don't have a hanging strop. I might have to go back and get a long length of leather and put a ring in it. What is a good width for hanging strops?
 
Nice grab, timbit. Be sure to show us some photos when you put them together.
 
timbit said:
I'd considered doing this :) I like bare leather strops myself, especially if they are premium full grain leather. I add compound to cardboard and have had very good results stropping this way... Although...you can never have TOO many strops can you? I don't have a hanging strop. I might have to go back and get a long length of leather and put a ring in it. What is a good width for hanging strops?
Click to expand...

I'd think anything from 1-1/2" (about the same width of a typical leather belt; I strop on mine) up to ~ 3" - 4" should be good. The extra length of a hanging strop more than makes up for anything given up with a narrower width. A hanging strop that's too wide might become a little unwieldy, and sometimes the tips of shorter blades might dig into a very wide strop, if the leather bends or folds slightly across it's width during the stroke. Most 'professional' hanging strops are quite stiff (due to the way the leather is processed) as compared to a typical piece of veg-tanned cowhide, unless it's very thick.
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
I'd think anything from 1-1/2" (about the same width of a typical leather belt; I strop on mine) up to ~ 3" - 4" should be good.
Click to expand...

If the stropper (assuming we're talking about straight razors now) uses the "X" pattern when stropping, a 2"-3" strop works fine. But for the 'straight line' stropper, 3"-4" is better. This size is also better for larger folders and fixed blades.

Most 'professional' hanging strops are quite stiff (due to the way the leather is processed) as compared to a typical piece of veg-tanned cowhide, unless it's very thick.
Click to expand...

Easy to remedy... Heat up some pure bee's wax, very very hot, and with a paint brush, paint it onto the back side of the leather strop. No need to put on a thick layer. If the wax is really really hot it will soak into the hide. When it cools completely, use a rough towel to rub off the excess. The resulting leather will be quite stiff... Not wooden board stiff, but you wouldn't want to try and fold it in half... The key to making this work is to be sure that the wax is very very hot, but be careful... you don't want it to catch fire. Have a thick towel or fiberglass fire blanket handy.

This is how the ancients used to make their body armor rigid, but they would dip it into boiling wax!


Stitchawl
 
timbit said:
Any idea as to what type of leather would be used on a pro's hanging strop? I have access to latigo leather as well.
Click to expand...

A small portion of the professional hanging strops are made from horsehide, which brings it's own advantages to bare-leather stropping (very high silica concentration). But most of the character & stiffness in the rest of them comes from the way the leather is highly compressed in processing (I'm sure it's done with the horsehide strops as well).

The 'latigo' leather is processed in yet a different way (if I recall) using oils/waxes to impregnate the leather. I think it's done to minimize moisture absorption, considering the intended end-use of latigo leather. As a bare leather strop, the waxes may get in the way. I bought a piece of latigo a few years ago, and have used it for a compounded strop, and it has worked well in that capacity (I'm using diamond compound on mine). When first trying it bare, I noticed the waxy stuff being scraped off the leather onto my blade, and it didn't seem to work very well that way. I used some Windex with a paper towel on another piece of that latigo, and it did seem to clean at least some of the waxy stuff off the surface. It seems to strop similarly to any other piece of veg-tanned I've tried, so it's at least usable.
 
Last edited:
Obsessed with Edges said:
A small portion of the professional hanging strops are made from horsehide, which brings it's own advantages to bare-leather stropping (very high silica concentration). But most of the character & stiffness in the rest of them comes from the way the leather is highly compressed in processing (I'm sure it's done with the horsehide strops as well).
Click to expand...
Very interesting about the wax. I'll have to give that a go. Regarding horsehide, is it superior to cowhide for stropping? Do you get as fine an edge or is it just a faster strop?

Cheers!
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
The 'latigo' leather is processed in yet a different way (if I recall) using oils/waxes to impregnate the leather.
Click to expand...

Latigo - Oil impregnated during the tanning process.
Bridle leather - Oil impregnated after the tanning process.

Neither AS effective as vegetable tanned leather when used as a bare strop. (NOT to say that they won't work at all... They do. Just not nearly as well.)


Stitchawl
 
timbit said:
Very interesting about the wax. I'll have to give that a go. Regarding horsehide, is it superior to cowhide for stropping? Do you get as fine an edge or is it just a faster strop?

Cheers!
Click to expand...

It's reputation is based on how easily (quickly) it refines the edge, due to the higher silica content (super-fine abrasives naturally found in the leather). As with any sharpening or stropping, how fine the edge gets is more about technique. Stropping with any leather, no matter how good it is, won't help if the edge isn't ready for it. ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top