Another "I wanna make a strop" thread

[JGKC9AYC]

I know that one can use about any type of pre-finished leather, but i'm curious about the linen.
I found a place that sells scrap fire hoses & was wondering how that would work?
Thanks.

 

[Gamma]

It's amazing what you can find on the internet.
Scrap fire hose. Awesome.
Try it out. Might need to be cleaned but who knows.

 

[Alum of Potash]

There is linen fire hose and there is linen fire hose. The first seems to have a "ping-pong" paddle type surface with a loose weave and is fairly common on eBay, dating to the mid-20th century, and I've always avoided it, thinking it would be too coarse. The second is a finer kind sometimes found with the vintage barber's end strops. Closest thing I've come to the latter is the material used for Duluth and Dickies' work pants, which is awesome as a fabric strop IMO.

 

[ouch]

It's amazing what you can find on the internet.
Scrap fire hose. Awesome.
Try it out. Might need to be cleaned but who knows.

As a former fellow Brooklynite, the thought of part of my strop having been dragged through a basement in Bed-Stuy is somewhat disconcerting.

 

[JGKC9AYC]

Assuming it gets a good bath, would it be a good partner to the leather?
Also, would one cut a section, the cut it length ways to make two or just leave it as is (assuming it's unlined)?

 

[Dublohseven]

Man. I wish I had saved some of that firehose I used to cut up and throw away when I was a firehose tester.

 

[Alum of Potash]

The old ones were left as is (a flattened tube). If the hose needs cleaning, cut a suitable length off and soak it in a small tub with Woolite and water, attacking stubborn stains with an old tooth brush. Then dry it out by sandwiching it between the folds of a towel on a board or flat surface and let it dry with some heavy books (or other suitable weight) on it for 24-48 hours. This is to make sure it dries flat.

 

[JGKC9AYC]

Thanks for your help.