Do Different Leather Strops Produce Different Shaving Results?

[Darth Scandalous]

Could you do it . . . for science?

I actually did try it quite some time ago with mixed results. This was a strop I'd made myself from a relatively heavy thickness of cowhide. The flesh side is pretty dry and coarse and I think with a lot of conditioning it would make a great stropping surface. But as it is now, no.

My daily driver strop is one of Tony's roughout horsehides. It's soft textured and works very well.

 

[swellcat]

Thanks for that follow-up, @Darth Scandalous.

I'm trying commercial cowhide pulled from a cushion off a leather couch someone had curbed. Both sides seem smooth, with the flesh/suede side being slightly textured, of course, but still soft.

Also here are several whitetail deer hides I've tanned. They range greatly in stiffness and texture, from chamois-soft braintan to fairly stiff bark-tanned hides.

At this stage, I'm stropping on faith, mostly, rather than a definitive sense it's making a constructive difference on razors.

 

[Tony Miller]

Could you do it . . . for science?

That is basically what most "Russian" leather strops are, the Illinois #827 is the flesh side and my Roughouts are also the flesh side of the hide, horse or steer. These can vary widely based on how fuzzy the flesh side is or if it was 'skived" first to shave off a layer leaving a coarse but very "tame" surface behind.