I have a genco razor there very smooth. find on eBay a strop 2.5 inch wide cheap as possible leather is leather if you don’t like you can just bin 🗑 it
Cheap Strop
- Thread starter Adis653
- Start date
Ps you only need leather no need for a second side just yet
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
Cheapest strop that I find acceptable is probably the 2-1/2" wide model sold by ebay seller "thexbay". It was $8.88 for a long time but he just went up a buck. For a learner, it is okay. I have no connection to this seller except I have bought and gave away a few of his strops and I have one that I have used myself just because I would never push something on someone else that I would never use. At $30, Tony Miller's Plain Vanilla sounds like a deal to me. Some guys start with Larry's (whippeddog.com) Poor Man strop. It is meant to be an expendable learner strop and a lot of guys here got their start with it.
Secondary components are completely 100% optional. I don't use them at all. But many of us just love to complicate things and that's perfectly okay, too. YMMV. Get a strop with, or without. Whatever blows your skirt up. Guys argue endlessly over what secondary is best or whether it is needed or not. This is the internet. Guys will argue. Just do it like you feel it, for now.
A "good" strop starts at around $60 and the sky is the limit for a nice horse shell model. But you should go cheap for your learner strop. It should be expendable because you are very likely to expend it while learning. Go for an upgrade later.
You can make a perfectly acceptable strop yourself. All you need is a precut 3" wide strip of vegetable tanned cowhide around 8oz weight (Approximately 1/8" thick) a couple of 2-1/2" or 3" D rings and a half dozen 3/8" Chicago screws. Cut two 5" pieces from whichever end of the leather looks the most flawed. Fold them in half through the D rings, notching as required. Sandwich the ends of the remainder between the ends of the bolster pieces, punch holes or drill, install the Chicago screws, and walah... instant strop. Sort of. All that then remains is to maybe bevel the side edges of the leather, and treat it if needed. Neatsfoot oil is the last word in treating leather strops but filtered beef tallow works fine for a cheapie. You can melt it again and mix in some melted beeswax if you like, and keep stirring as it cools, refrigerate and cut into handy size blocks or bars or sticks. Keep in the freezer until you need it. It will soften and melt quickly in the hand and get really messy. Rub it around on the new strop, then spend the next couple hours hand rubbing the stuff into the leather. For maintenance, every month or so rub your mixture (or neatsfoot oil) into your palm and then hand rub the strop some more. You want the leather to be supple and have a very very slight amount of silky grab to it but preferences on the draw vary a lot. Don't go bananas with the treatment. The leather should never have a heavy, soggy feel. A bit on the dry side is fine. If you get too much, it takes a long time to fix it and you can always add more later, so easy does it.
Word of safety. Melting wax and beef tallow over a gas burner could start a fire as vapors fall down to the flame. Using parrafin wax instead of beeswax is particularly hazardous, over an open flame. I prefer an induction hotplate, myself.
For length, remember you are cutting off 10" for bolster pieces, and you have about an inch of overlap, so take your planned stroppable length and add 12" to it, for how long a piece you need. A 24" long piece then, only allows 12" of usable length. You will probably find that 16" to 20" of stropping surface is about right. So, 28" to 32" length is about right. A 72" strip, which is a commonly sold length, will make you two good strops of generous length with a bit of leather left over.
No leather punches? That's okay. Clamp the sandwiched together part between two boards and drill through. Run the bit in and out a few times to get the hole as clear as possible. Ragged edges of the drilled holes are hidden by the Chicago screws.
You can get as fancy as you like, treating your leather. Or as simple as you like. Some leather needs to be soaked for a few hours or days before you can get it to lay flat. I like to lay the soaked leather on a board and rub it with a bottle, using a lot of pressure, as the leather dries, and begin introducing neatsfoot as the last of the water evaporates from it. Works for me. Most precut strips will be perfectly okay to use as is.
So what you have at the end is a simple single component strop with a D ring at each end. What is great about this configuration is if you nick the edge badly, you can just hang it the other way up, and the damaged edge is on the other side where your razor will never encounter it.
Don't go wider than 3". Don't go narrower than 2-1/2". Three Chicago screws per end is better than two, IMHO, as it helps to control cupping. To remedy cupping, you can drill out the side holes slightly bigger, leaving the centerline holes alone. Sometimes all you need to do is rub the strop down good, cupping your hand over it so pressure is on the edges.
Beveling the edges is usually done with a special tool called I think a scriving knife or something like that. But you can also just use sandpaper. Doesn't need much, just enough to be sure you don't have a ridge sticking up at the side edges.
Secondary components are completely 100% optional. I don't use them at all. But many of us just love to complicate things and that's perfectly okay, too. YMMV. Get a strop with, or without. Whatever blows your skirt up. Guys argue endlessly over what secondary is best or whether it is needed or not. This is the internet. Guys will argue. Just do it like you feel it, for now.
A "good" strop starts at around $60 and the sky is the limit for a nice horse shell model. But you should go cheap for your learner strop. It should be expendable because you are very likely to expend it while learning. Go for an upgrade later.
You can make a perfectly acceptable strop yourself. All you need is a precut 3" wide strip of vegetable tanned cowhide around 8oz weight (Approximately 1/8" thick) a couple of 2-1/2" or 3" D rings and a half dozen 3/8" Chicago screws. Cut two 5" pieces from whichever end of the leather looks the most flawed. Fold them in half through the D rings, notching as required. Sandwich the ends of the remainder between the ends of the bolster pieces, punch holes or drill, install the Chicago screws, and walah... instant strop. Sort of. All that then remains is to maybe bevel the side edges of the leather, and treat it if needed. Neatsfoot oil is the last word in treating leather strops but filtered beef tallow works fine for a cheapie. You can melt it again and mix in some melted beeswax if you like, and keep stirring as it cools, refrigerate and cut into handy size blocks or bars or sticks. Keep in the freezer until you need it. It will soften and melt quickly in the hand and get really messy. Rub it around on the new strop, then spend the next couple hours hand rubbing the stuff into the leather. For maintenance, every month or so rub your mixture (or neatsfoot oil) into your palm and then hand rub the strop some more. You want the leather to be supple and have a very very slight amount of silky grab to it but preferences on the draw vary a lot. Don't go bananas with the treatment. The leather should never have a heavy, soggy feel. A bit on the dry side is fine. If you get too much, it takes a long time to fix it and you can always add more later, so easy does it.
Word of safety. Melting wax and beef tallow over a gas burner could start a fire as vapors fall down to the flame. Using parrafin wax instead of beeswax is particularly hazardous, over an open flame. I prefer an induction hotplate, myself.
For length, remember you are cutting off 10" for bolster pieces, and you have about an inch of overlap, so take your planned stroppable length and add 12" to it, for how long a piece you need. A 24" long piece then, only allows 12" of usable length. You will probably find that 16" to 20" of stropping surface is about right. So, 28" to 32" length is about right. A 72" strip, which is a commonly sold length, will make you two good strops of generous length with a bit of leather left over.
No leather punches? That's okay. Clamp the sandwiched together part between two boards and drill through. Run the bit in and out a few times to get the hole as clear as possible. Ragged edges of the drilled holes are hidden by the Chicago screws.
You can get as fancy as you like, treating your leather. Or as simple as you like. Some leather needs to be soaked for a few hours or days before you can get it to lay flat. I like to lay the soaked leather on a board and rub it with a bottle, using a lot of pressure, as the leather dries, and begin introducing neatsfoot as the last of the water evaporates from it. Works for me. Most precut strips will be perfectly okay to use as is.
So what you have at the end is a simple single component strop with a D ring at each end. What is great about this configuration is if you nick the edge badly, you can just hang it the other way up, and the damaged edge is on the other side where your razor will never encounter it.
Don't go wider than 3". Don't go narrower than 2-1/2". Three Chicago screws per end is better than two, IMHO, as it helps to control cupping. To remedy cupping, you can drill out the side holes slightly bigger, leaving the centerline holes alone. Sometimes all you need to do is rub the strop down good, cupping your hand over it so pressure is on the edges.
Beveling the edges is usually done with a special tool called I think a scriving knife or something like that. But you can also just use sandpaper. Doesn't need much, just enough to be sure you don't have a ridge sticking up at the side edges.
Searching for that seller is not bringing anything up. Would you mind sharing a link?
Side note - I think I'm about to purchase a straight from you on eBay. Is that the preferred method or would you rather do it here? If here, please shoot me a PM. Word on the street is your honed blades are awesome, and that's just what I need as a beginner.
Thanks!
Something like this should do. I have something similar.
ZEVA WIDE RAW COWHIDE LEATHER SHARPENING STROP/STRAP FOR STRAIGHT EDGE RAZOR W3 | eBay - https://www.ebay.com/itm/ZEVA-WIDE-RAW-COWHIDE-LEATHER-SHARPENING-STROP-STRAP-FOR-STRAIGHT-EDGE-RAZOR-W3/282286752392?hash=item41b99a0288:g:qzkAAOSwzaJX9oEu:sc:USPSFirstClass!98115!US!-1
ZEVA WIDE RAW COWHIDE LEATHER SHARPENING STROP/STRAP FOR STRAIGHT EDGE RAZOR W3 | eBay - https://www.ebay.com/itm/ZEVA-WIDE-RAW-COWHIDE-LEATHER-SHARPENING-STROP-STRAP-FOR-STRAIGHT-EDGE-RAZOR-W3/282286752392?hash=item41b99a0288:g:qzkAAOSwzaJX9oEu:sc:USPSFirstClass!98115!US!-1
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
Barber Leather Strop Straight Razor Sharpening Shave Shaving 2.5" X 25" LARGE | eBay
Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Barber Leather Strop Straight Razor Sharpening Shave Shaving 2.5" X 25" LARGE at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
www.ebay.com
Keep in mind that when I say "acceptable" I only mean acceptable as an expendable strop to learn on. regarding your side note I do not have vendor privileges on this forum and so I can't talk about that. Please don't think I am being rude but rules is rules.
I threw $15 at a cheap strop that will get me by kinda....
as a newb I would advise not to cheap in this area.
I have a Miller strop inbound. I got the 3" not the 2 1/2" pictured.
I imagine this will work well for quite some time and comes well recommended.
camo
as a newb I would advise not to cheap in this area.
I have a Miller strop inbound. I got the 3" not the 2 1/2" pictured.
I imagine this will work well for quite some time and comes well recommended.
camo
Your Tony Miller is a great strop. I suggest you use your $15 strop until you become proficient at stropping and are confident that you won't cut your TM strop.
undestood and this is sound thinking; however, I might have to take the risk and use it.
my reason for risking:.....there are micro ripples on the surface level of the cheap strop. I'm not an rocket scientist but cant imagine that being good for the edge.
camo
Last edited:
Strops | WhippedDog
www.whippeddog.com
just used my new strop a little.
the difference is night and day vs. the cheapie. blade became noticeably sharper with not a whole lot of strokes.
thanks Miller for an fine product!!!!!!
being new I still stand by..... dont skimp on this dept.
camo
the difference is night and day vs. the cheapie. blade became noticeably sharper with not a whole lot of strokes.
thanks Miller for an fine product!!!!!!
being new I still stand by..... dont skimp on this dept.
camo
