I am terribly sorry guys, but it appears that I had offered all these strops to people. So I will not be able to donate one to TSD this time around. However, I intend to do this again (only better next time!) in a couple of months. I will definitely keep one or two aside for TSD then, guaranteed. Sorry again. :ashamed001 James.
It happens! No worries. I might be interested next time around...let us know how it works out! I hope it's a good strop; I love it when people make their own tools.
Thanks Klaus. Up close and personal a couple of them are not quite right, but I learned a thing or two this time round which means next time things will be better, I think. After living with the Roo strop for a few days and shaves now, I can say with absolute certainty that, regardless of how they look, these are really very good strops. I do not know whether it is the Kangaroo grain, or whether it is the thinness, or both, but I am getting some stupendous edges off this thing. And the draw is excellent too. No treatment, just the original tanning - starts off light-ish (can still feel it) but really develops nicely as the edge gets smoother. Wonderful feedback without being too overpowering. Anyway, here are all the strops I made from that hide. I hope you like them. James.
They do look great! Let us know if you offer them for sale. Also, a nice thin leather strop would be perfect for some single edge razors like the Autostrop, if you ever want to make a test one of those let me know!
Me wants, sign me up for one next time you get your hands on a skin, they look really wicked! What kind of money do you want for one?
Wow, thats are really coll stuff. I only heard very good things about Kangaroo leather. Why not strops...?
I have been using the strop for a couple of weeks now, plus some feedback from the ones I sent out has come back in, so I thought I would post about how it is going. First, thanks guys for the supportive comments - I appreciate them a lot. :thanks Second, I intend to make another batch of Roo strops toward the middle of next month. These will be single-sided versions for two reasons: (a) A lot of people have expressed interest in these strops; (b) I have had feedback from Lynn at SRP that the single-sided piece I sent him works very well. My intention is not to sell these strops, but to give them away. If it is acceptable to people here, I thought I would give 2 to the admins as part of an existing TSD giveaway, and 2 as a pass-around. Although I am not sure how a strop pass-around might work - but we can worry about that when the time comes I guess. With this next batch I will be taking photos and making a sort of photo tutorial which I will post here. It is not difficult to do (I can do it ), and kangaroo hides are available on ebay for pretty much what I can get them for in person over here. So a group hide-buy might be something to consider if people want to into the future. Anyway, enough rambling. To the strop. Even if I do say so myself, I think the Roo leather is by far the best I have tried. Mind you, I have not tried horsehide "shell". Feedback from the guys who I sent the last lot out to has been really positive - The roo leather has a great feel to it. The draw is very natural and does not need to be developed by raising the nap or applying dresssing: it is present in the treated leather right from the word go. There is even a feeling of immediate draw on full wedges, something I have not experienced on cow or horse hide before. I think the tighter grain combined with the thinness of the leather give the edge of the razor a very smooth finish. Noticably smoother than my cowhide strops. In fact, as a test I took a razor that was going to the hones because it was pulling, and applied 100 laps to it on the strop. I did not end up taking it back to the hone - the edge was back to shave sharp. So I am very happy with this leather. In fact, I have stopped using my other strops altogether now. James.
If he can do it so can you. Make yourself a Jimbo-Roo! I can confirm Jimbo's findings regarding the feel of the strop. In fact, I bought an old ebay razor that was missing a quarter inch chunk out of the blade & was dull as a beach ball and after only about 150 passes on the strop, it was shave ready. My face didn't even need any lubrication for the shave, amazing. I've sold all my hones, brushes, soaps, creams, and of course, strops. Okay seriously though, the first thing I noticed about my Jimboroo strop is the consistent, mild draw that is present along the entire length and entire width of the strop on every kind of shave ready razor I own. The full hollow does not get bogged down in the strop and yet the solid wedge has nearly the same feel. The feedback is neither overbearing nor subtle. The leather is effortlessly pulled taut without any noticeable springiness or stretch and really does put a nice smooth edge on a blade. As the leather is so thin, the strop is lightweight. I let out a groan this morning though as I nicked one end of the strop. It was a curious experience, as the poked leather did not seem to want to peel away or flap up like my latigo strop always did. Rather, the cut seems more like a very thin and very shallow crack in the leather. Notice all the verys (veries?) I just used. I am trying now to determine whether or not I still need my linen strop. I hope I will know within a month or two. Thanks Jimbo PS Jimbo's handiwork is not to be sneezed at either. It has a definite home-made feel without the sloppiness you might expect of a kindergartner, hehe
I had a pair of kangaroo boots made for me in Thailand in 1974. the leather was soft and supple yet nearly indistructable. I always thought it would make a good strop. John Crowley
The strops sound interesting. Looks like they would make a great addition to any straight shavers den. Great Job! just to stir up some trouble.. So what do you think about making a besthair koala shave brush?
