Science, Lee... Science! That, and if I have been educated correctly, it helps take the tiny, tiny teeth of the razor's edge and get them all lined up in one clean edge so, while the teeth are still there, there is less variance in their angle and less excruciatingly-minute micro-breaking I can't tell you anything of the brand, but if the side is Black, it is probably a rougher material, that's all... however, if it's blackENED, it was probably pasted and has seen intense use... You can either clean it in the latter condition, and use it raw or repaste it, or, if it's just a black material/leather, use it as is. I'm not too experienced in different leather types, from a leatherworker's perspective... However, I've used belt and stirrup strips with success, so If you can find those, go for it. Just look for a smooth, clean surface free of defects. It should be a "one-and-done" type deal, however you may need to reapply every 6 months or so... I've only used neatsfoot for conditioning, not for draw alteration... You may very well have to do it again in a few months, maybe a year.... Only time will tell. Cheers, all, Jeremy
Oh... right So the strop is to my razor what braces are to teeth. Maybe I should be adding toothpaste to my lather so my razor doesn't get cavities I love science!:happy102
Well, I'll keep track and report when/if I apply a fresh application. Who knows, maybe someone will benefit from that information. I'll also say that the strop is softer than it's ever been, which is only common sense since neatsfoot oil will soften leather as it conditions it if I read the bottle correctly. It really provided a great shave last night so I'm looking forward to seeing how it performs in the long run. This is a great thread, I enjoy reading it alot. Now, if you really want to stir something up, start a thread on linen strops
Harness will work. I have made quite a few strops and used or owned about every new strop out there and many vintage ones. Shoe leather is usually thin for strops, but it can work. Keep in mind that it's not necessarily the type of leather in all cases. You need leather that is not creased, smooth textured, and for strops you need some pliability to get optimum use. Draw is something that can be altered, but don't go an dbuy leather that you must sand smooth. Draw is also something that people get hung up on that often doesn't matter. Many vegetable tanned horsehide strops are quite slick and lack a lot of draw, but they perform often much better than the overpriced leathrs you see with lots of draw. You should also consider that there are many companies that make harness leather and each one will be different. This is why you should preferably not order leather online because its hard to know what you'll get. Make your own strop. If you are like me you will use it more than the ones you purchase because it will perform the way you want it to. Plus, for the cost of one of the big name strops, you can make your own that is of equal quality.
...Shoe leather is usually thin for strops, but it can work... I was talking about shoe sole leather. It's thicker and less flexible than most strops.
Regarding the application of neatsfoot oil to the strop... If you apply it to the top, that is the stropping surface, it can be easy to apply it in a spotty manner even if you rub in from your palm. This will result in a less than optimal stropping surface. I find that it is better to apply it repeatedly to the underside of the strop. The oil soaks into the leather, so it is conditioned, but it is more uniformly distributed within the leather and the stropping surface is uniformly improved.
The following information comes from http://www.saddlebackleather.com This is an overview of how cowhide leather is graded and used. Full Grain, Top Grain, Genuine and Bonded: Leather 102 "Saddleback Leather bags are made from American cows born and bred. We use 4 - 5 ounce Full Grain leather tanned with high grade oils and preservatives to keep it from being destroyed early by dryness and moisture. There are four grades of leather you can get out of one original hide. Notice in the drawing below how the fibers near the bottom run horizontally and the higher you go, the more vertical they get? Well, the more horizontal, the more easily the fibers pull apart. The more vertical, the tougher. (the drawing is located http://www.saddlebackleather.com/18-why-saddleback-leather-is-better just over halfway down the page) Full Grain Leather is the best leather money can buy and the only leather good enough for Saddleback. It comes from the top layer of the hide which has ALL of the grain, therefore, FULL grain. The natural surface of full grain leather burnishes and beautifies with use. Some companies sort of spray paint their inferior leather to try to make it look like full grain leather, but it just ends up looking like someone spray painted some cheap leather. From what I've seen, maybe 2% of all bags are made of Full Grain. This leather is expensive for me to buy and very difficult to work..... ....Top Grain Leather is the second highest grade because it is split from the top layer of blemished hide then sanded and refinished. This is how they get rid of scars and scrapes and light cow brands. Top grain leather does not age nicely with use. It is strong and durable, but not good enough for Saddleback. They sanded off the strongest fibers of the hide leaving mainly the horizontal (easily pulled apart) fibers. By the way, did you know that leather shavings are used as filler in cheap dog food? The bigger the pile of shavings in the dog food, the bigger the piles elsewhere. Genuine Leather is the third grade of leather and is produced from the layers of hide that remain after the top is split off for the better grades. The surface is usually refinished (spray painted) to resemble a higher grade. It can be smooth or rough. Ever heard of suede? Suede is tougher than cloth and is excellent for lining, but it's not a good idea to use it in areas where it gets stress. Bonded Leather is the PT Cruiser of the leather world... pure junk. Leftover scraps are ground together with glue and resurfaced in a process similar to vinyl manufacture. Bonded leather is weak and degrades quickly with use. Most Bibles are covered with this. I hope this information helps in your understanding of leather and in your search for the perfect leather piece." Shell Cordovan horse hide is what has been traditionally used in strops. Shell horsehide is a peanut shaped piece of leather (think nutter butters) from each hide located on the rump of the horse. this piece of leather provides enough material for one pair of shoes. So a person could get 3-6 strops out of one shell. My personal strop is graded as A-1 Extra Heavy Shell and is about a quarter of an inch thick. From what I've been able to gather, this thickness of leather came from draft horses and is extremely hard to find today.
Hardware?? How's about places to get hardware to replace damaged goods or to upgrade or just plain make a strop. I've looked around (only a little on line) for the larger 2&1/2" or 3" D-rings etc but I'm not really finding anything "usefull". Any suggestions? I've got an old patient restraint strap from a hospital bed I wanted to turn into a strop for pastes but can't find the hardware. Thanks in advance, Michael
"Hello Clarice" Sorry, that's what came to mind. Seriously, have you check hardware stores for the D-rings. Another possibility is a local or online horse tack supply store. D-rings, I would think, are common to horse tack such as saddles and bridles.
All I've been able to find so far are too small. Haven't had a chance to get up to Homedepot yet. I know there's a couple tack shops in the area just haven't been able to locate them yet. Thanks for the suggestions, Michael
Question for Jeremy Jeremy, This is a Rolls question. The strop on several of my razors shows an uneven pattern after a week or 2 of daily stroping. I hesitate to call it wear. The pattern is in the lighter shading on the strop. I haven't noticed any performance issues with the razor itself. I'm thinking maybe the strop backing has become uneven over the (probably) 50 yrs most of these razors set on a shelf somewhere, but it could also be a function of the leather inself. Is strop leather uniform or normally subject to patches of different surface texture? Greg
Never used a rolls, so I can't speak to them... However I do have strops that have varying shades across the surface, and they become more pronounced over time... Again, though, I know nothing about the Rolls
rolls strop I came across the suggestion of using 'lubriderm' [sp?] to treat my rolls strop it is very old and was hard and brittle, but the derm stuff seems to have done the trick.
Hey ShavedZombie, "Science, Lee... Science! That, and if I have been educated correctly, it helps take the tiny, tiny teeth of the razor's edge and get them all lined up in one clean edge so, while the teeth are still there, there is less variance in their angle and less excruciatingly-minute micro-breaking" This is just the info I had been looking for. But I have one more to follow. It would seem everyone believes you use the finest paste to get a nice sharp edge and then finish on a leather Strop with nothing on it at all. Why would a naked strop be better then a strop with that super fine paste? Wouldn't the paste smooth out the imperfections of leather and it's sanding; making it finer and better surface? Thanks.
I'm not quite sure what you mean... The paste is abrasive, the pure leather is not... No matter how fine the paste is, it's still removing metal (think of it like sanding the edge of the razor on an extremely microscopic level). The pure leather, on the other hand, does NOT remove metal in that sense (Some metal may come off on pure leather, but that would be tiny burrs of metal that are too fragile to straighten, so they break off, it's not an abrasive process by nature). The point is that the abrasive stuff removes metal to help create a "point" at the edge, while the leather helps keep all the facets of that point clean, straight and devoid of misalignment. I think that covers your question... If not, could you try phrasing it a little more precisely? Thanks, Jeremy
Wow your fast to respond. (and Thank you) I think you answered my question. I thought the pure leather was sharpening in the sense that it is shaping the metal. But it sounds like you are saying it is "de-burring" in a sense. That makes sense to me. Very cool, and I will be making two strops for these purposes. IAN
