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DIY Straight Razor Strop - Information Needed

Hello to all! :001_smile

I am about to start shaving with a straight razor, and while I was looking for a strop, a friend of mine offered me to make me one.
He and his father have a place and they have some experience in working with leather and making belts etc.

So, I would like to go for a two-sided strop; one side leather, the other canvas.

I would really appreciate some thoughts/input on:
1. The type of leather that I should tell him to source. Moreover, the treatment that the leather should have, and its dimensions.
2. The type of canvas that is needed.
3. Anything else that must be taken care of, if any.

Thank you in advance for your help. :001_smile
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
Canvas is not needed. It does exactly NOTHING that stropping on leather alone can't do. But if you insist, then genuine Irish linen canvas is the read deal. I don't use any fabric component. In strops that I have bought, I remove it and toss it. Strops that I make don't have it even though I have a lot of used firehose and one complete new 75' hose that I bought mostly just for making strops.

The hardest part to source is the D rings. A saddle shop can probably hook you up. You will spend hours and hours trying to find large enough D rings online for a decent price. Since you are making just one strop though, cost isn't really an issue. So two 3" D rings and 6 3/8" chicago screws, maybe 1/2" too, in case your leather is too thick. You want three at each end so you can later adjust the hole sizes to correct cupping.

For leather, veg tanned cowhide of good quality will work fine. Weight should be about 8oz for a looser and more supple strop, 10oz if you like a stiffer strop. Surface must be free of wrinkles, creases, or scars. Start with a piece 3" wide. You will lose a small amount trimming the edges straight. Just under 3" is the ideal width. Horse butt is better than cowhide, so many say. The finest strops are made from Cordovan horse shell. Shell is a very special type of leather and Cordovan shell is even more special, and very expensive. For length, you need a foot longer than what you want the stroppable length to be, for your bolster pieces, or end caps. Those are the pieces that are folded through the D ring and over the end of the strop body.

Good leather really doesn't need any treatment to make a basic strop. If you don't know how, if you are just guessing or just want to DO something, then skip it. Better to not do anything than do the wrong thing or too much of what would otherwise be a right thing. Most strop makers have their own secret private brew for preconditioning leather for a strop, and their own treatment process. If the leather is good, you can get by just fine with just lots of vigorous hand rubbing. Pull the finished strop tight and rub with the palm of your hand for a couple of minutes every day. The first time you do this, you could apply a few drops of Neatsfoot Oil to your hand, or just barely moisten your hand with some beef tallow. Until you know better, don't do this more than once or twice a year. If you never do it, you honestly probably won't know the difference. If you do it too much, it is very difficult to undo it. You can't over-rub your strop, but you definitely can over-oil it.

Generally for cowhide, veg tanning is superior. Don't bother with chrome tanned leather. Some shavers like Latigo, which is sort of a hybrid veg and oil tanning process. My own preferences run against Latigo but I have ran across Latigo strops that seemed quite agreeable to me, and leather that I couldn't help thinking would make a nice strop.
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
You mean the weight of the leather? As a general rule of thumb, 8oz leather is roughly 1/8" thick. Not sure how many sillymeters that is. All I know about metric is .223" is 5.56mm, .308" is 7.62mm, and .50" is 12.7mm. And that no toolbox ever contains the right size socket for a metric bolt. It is a basic law of physics. Anyway the thickness of leather is usually expressed in weight per sqare foot, so obviously if 8oz leather is about 1/8" thick then 12oz leather is about 3/16" thick and 10oz leather would be about 5/32" thick and 6oz leather would be about 3/32" thick. 4oz to 6oz leather makes a pretty good travel strop because usually you can roll it loosely with no ill effects.
 
My Horween is 1/16" and Kanayama is around 1/12".
If your leather is thin, you need canvas backing. Leather should be lying on a sturdy backing and not being pulled taut.
Thin and supple leather will allow full contact across the entire blade. You can do straight strokes.
Thick and stiff leather will have gaps, and you need to do a bit of x-stroke to get even coverage and so more room for nicks.
I preferred heavy-draw/feedback strop when I began like Latigo, but now mostly use glassy and speedy strops.
Don't think there's much difference in edge performance.
I wish I had friends who can make me a custom strop. *drool*
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
My Horween is 1/16" and Kanayama is around 1/12".
If your leather is thin, you need canvas backing. Leather should be lying on a sturdy backing and not being pulled taut.
Thin and supple leather will allow full contact across the entire blade. You can do straight strokes.
Thick and stiff leather will have gaps, and you need to do a bit of x-stroke to get even coverage and so more room for nicks.
I preferred heavy-draw/feedback strop when I began like Latigo, but now mostly use glassy and speedy strops.
Don't think there's much difference in edge performance.
I wish I had friends who can make me a custom strop. *drool*

That is one situation where a secondary component is very useful. I own one Kanayama and I have retained the linen just so I can pull that nice and tight without putting a lot of pull on the horse shell piece. I forgot about that.
 
Thank you both!
I think that I have identified the right leather type.

Regarding Irish linen canvas?
If I am not mistaken, this term can point to a family of different material properties.
What texture, density, and thickness should it have for the strop?

Let's say that I go with a 10oz vegetable tanned cowhide, and that I opt for a smaller and narrower strop, i.e. ~40cm(16") stroppable length and ~4.5cm(1.8") width.
 
I made a strop with a piece of veg-tanned cow hide 4mm thick, 3" wide, and 600mm long (two feet). It was advertised specifically for stropping.

Don't skimp on the length: one of the best things about making your own is the luxury of a nice long strop.
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
I made a strop with a piece of veg-tanned cow hide 4mm thick, 3" wide, and 600mm long (two feet). It was advertised specifically for stropping.

Don't skimp on the length: one of the best things about making your own is the luxury of a nice long strop.

Indeed. Nice to have so much real estate that you never even get close to the bolsters.
 
Ok, I will go for a greater length; something like 50cm-55cm stroppable.

About the canvas? Any info on texture, thickness, else?
 
Reviving a semi old thread...

I have about a 55" strip of veg tanned cowhide, 3" wide. Is there any reason I can't fold the end over my d- rings and put chicago screws in it, as opposed to making bolsters? Because, 1) I have a bunch of quarter inch chicago screws, and 2) that still leaves enough leather for 2 decent sized strops.

I can always get bigger screws but this piece of leather is pretty decent for the whole length and I'd like to make the most of it.
 

Tony Miller

Speaking of horse butts…
Reviving a semi old thread...

I have about a 55" strip of veg tanned cowhide, 3" wide. Is there any reason I can't fold the end over my d- rings and put chicago screws in it, as opposed to making bolsters? Because, 1) I have a bunch of quarter inch chicago screws, and 2) that still leaves enough leather for 2 decent sized strops.

I can always get bigger screws but this piece of leather is pretty decent for the whole length and I'd like to make the most of it.

On my earliest strops I simply folded the ends rather than make the end caps. I still use that method on my synthetic strops.
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
Reviving a semi old thread...

I have about a 55" strip of veg tanned cowhide, 3" wide. Is there any reason I can't fold the end over my d- rings and put chicago screws in it, as opposed to making bolsters? Because, 1) I have a bunch of quarter inch chicago screws, and 2) that still leaves enough leather for 2 decent sized strops.

I can always get bigger screws but this piece of leather is pretty decent for the whole length and I'd like to make the most of it.
Yes, you can do that. In fact my favorite cowhide strop happens to be of simple fold-over construction. It ain't purty but it works. That was actually the only one I ever made like that, and now I only use the more popular bolster construction. I have sewn a few but I prefer three chicago screws per end. Hey, do it like you feel it. It's for you, not the Guggenheim or the Louvre, right?
 
Yes, you can do that. In fact my favorite cowhide strop happens to be of simple fold-over construction. It ain't purty but it works. That was actually the only one I ever made like that, and now I only use the more popular bolster construction. I have sewn a few but I prefer three chicago screws per end. Hey, do it like you feel it. It's for you, not the Guggenheim or the Louvre, right?
I happen to think that simple utility generates its own elegance. Nothing wrong with pretty, but sometimes something that just works is its own reward, you know?

I've read through several of your other posts on strop making, and I have a question about treating the flesh side of the leather. How much neatsfoot or neatsfoot/beeswax potion do you put on it? This piece of leather is pretty dry and rough on the flesh side. I've been rubbing the heck out of the hair side with a touch of neatsfoot and it's coming along nicely. I think I'll use a little beeswax when I burnish the edges, too, but I'm kind of at a loss about the flesh side. I don't want to over oil it.
 
The cowhide strop is now in service. 3" wide, about 20" of stopping surface.
20210716_221915.jpg


I have enough leftover to make another but I need to get a couple more D-rings.
 
Looks sweet! But I will disagree with my pal @slashmccoy about the linen. Real flax linen is very capable of adding some zip to your edge and keeping it shaving a long time. There is apparently some silicone in the thread of flax that has slight abrasive power. But you don't have to have it. I'm glad I have mine though. Happy stropping!
 
Use 2 -inch D rings, available here in So Cal at any good Ace Hardware or Tandy leather, about a buck a piece.

Below is a simple leather keeper that will accommodate a 2 -3-inch strop, the photo is a 2-inch fire hose, but can easily be adapted to 3 in and made as fancy or simple as you wish. The same pattern was use on the 3 in blue sailcloth strop, except instead of a separate keeper it was cut into the strop, (add extra length so your finished length is 20 inches not including the D rings.

Use rivets, you don’t need Chicago Screws, if you do use screws, Loctite them.

You don’t need fancy swivels, an 18-inch length of Paracord works just fine for looping around a doorknob or hook. Ace has swivels if you want them, couple bucks.

Linen is more important than leather, properly cleaned linen. I prefer cleaned vintage flax linen, but canvas or sail cloth, (polyester canvas) works very well, about $10 a yard that will make a boatload of strops. Great for pasted strops, last forever. The Blue strop is Sailcloth, Polyester canvas.

You do not need to worry about sealing the edges, canvas is self- sealing.

The leather does not matter until you master stropping, then some better clean leathers can add the extra 2%. If the strop is dirty, (airborne dust) you will scratch the bevel and edge, no matter how pricy or beautiful your strop is. Keep your strops clean and dust free. A strop sock is invaluable.

If starting out go simple, 20 inch any clean leather, leather keepers, 2 in D rings. And a separate 20-inch Sail Cloth strop on 2-inch D rings is the bullet proof.

Look at stropping videos, most guys only use 6 inches of a strop, the middle. You can learn on the sailcloth it is hard to cut, gives a good finish and if you buy a yard usually 36X45 in, you have plenty in case you cut one.

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