DIY 2" Leather Strops

[dpetrzelka]

Its raining here is Washington, so I decided to work on a little project:

Made up three 2" leather strops, with brass Chicago screws and 2" D rings on each end. 14.75" stropping surface, 20.5" OA. The leather is nothing fancy, natural veg tanned from Macpherson leather - feels smooth and should work well.

I plan to pick up some 2" linen for the backs of each.

Just thought you all might like to see them.

 

[jgriest03]

Very nice looking strops!

 

[craigsherry]

Hi there,
They look fantastic i would love one a those! Really well done.

 

[dpetrzelka]

I might be willing to trade one - feel free to send me a PM.

 

[wquiles]

Very nice looking strops!

+1

Very nice!

 

[Gamma]

Very cool - nice work.

 

[dpetrzelka]

thanks guys.

I'm now working on increasing the draw a little. This was natural leather, and its needs to drink up some oil - neatsfoot on its way.

 

[LegionPrime]

Very nice, I have been talking with a buddy that does leatherwork about making up a couple strops. Your design with the chicago screws is just what I was suggesting to him. I think we may give it a try with some old seatbelts I gave him years ago in leiu of linnen. Good to know how good looking they can be with such a simple design.

 

[CanonSterVa]

Nice work.
Great idea on the Chicago Screws.

 

[dpetrzelka]

I will recommend setting the Chicago screws back a little further to help eliminate any chance of your razor hitting the hardware.

I'm cutting new end pieces for those three in the photo, as I have a long stroke when stropping and can already see the potential for razor contact with the brass screws. Those have 3" end pieces, I may make the new ones 4" to give another 1/2" of leather between the stropping surface and the screws on each side.

 

[tezza]

Wow, those are beautiful!! Good job!

 

[dpetrzelka]

Just picked up some more 9-10oz leather today as I really like the weight of thse, and the Neatsfoot oil is here - time to make a few more ( surprising amount of interest in these).

Modifications
- slightly longer leather ends to put more distance between razor and Chicago screws
- adding tan leather lace to the top D-ring for ease of hanging

I'm also working on making a little stamp to put my mark on them. I'll post more photos when done.

 

[DevinLT1966]

Those look great! Where did you get the leather? What a good project for these rainy weekends.

 

[chilliman64]

fantastic, just gotta get me some leather and I'll have a go at these myself. thanks for sharing!

 

[dpetrzelka]

Made a few more this weekend with the refined placement of the Chicago screws in the ends. Pretty happy with how these are turning out.

 

[dpetrzelka]

Here are some detail shots of the ends.

 

[Comet]

Nice work! Where are getting the D-rings and Chicago Screws from?

 

[dpetrzelka]

Comet -

Chicago screws can be found at many craft stores, leather working stores, and easily online. My local leather guy has them, but you can also order from www.chicagoscrews.com, they have pretty nice selection.

The heavy 2" D-rings are another item my local leather place has, but I've not found this weight online. Most of the online places have a lighter weight D-ring which doesn't feel as balanced with the 9-10oz leather I'm using. If one were using lighter weight leather the standard D-rings would be more well balanced.

 

[dpetrzelka]

View attachment 329186

Up next, the All American.

(though I'm sure this could be enjoyed by anyone from Australia, Cambodia, Chile,Cook Islands, Costa Rica
Cuba, Croatia, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Faroe Islands, Fiji,France,Iceland, Laos, Liberia, Luxembourg, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand
North Korea, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Russia, Samoa, Sint Maarten, Slovakia, Slovenia, Taiwan, Thailand, or the United Kingdom - funny how we all use the same colors for our flags)

But you get the idea - Red, White and Blue.

 

[dpetrzelka]

I'm hoping to stop by Horween when I'm in Chicago next week - might bring home some Shell or Russet horse hide strips to make some even nicer strops.