Strop questions

[BlacknTan]

You're entirely welcome, Sebastian, and I look forward to the finished product.
As for a backer for the leather, to my mind at least, I think a strip of thick felt would be perfect... a bit of give to back up the leather, but not too much give.

I'm anxious to see what you come up with!

BTW, while I have never used firehose myself, I have heard that it makes a good stropping material.

 

[Estariol]

You're entirely welcome, Sebastian, and I look forward to the finished product.
As for a backer for the leather, to my mind at least, I think a strip of thick felt would be perfect... a bit of give to back up the leather, but not too much give.

I'm anxious to see what you come up with!

BTW, while I have never used firehose myself, I have heard that it makes a good stropping material.

That brings out a new question, since there are 3 hardness levels of felt available on the market, soft, semi-hard and hard, and a lot of thickness options... I'd say 3mm thickness would be allright, but the hardness question remains...

 

[BlacknTan]

I think even soft felt would be hard enough... but, that's just a guess. When I strop, there's nothing backing up the leather but the linen component. It just depends on how taut I pull..

 

[UKRob]

For a bench strop I’ve used compacted foam as a support - the sort that’s used in packaging and that has some give but reverts back to shape. As for felt, I’d go for the medium or soft - test it with your fingers to see if there is any slight give - all you need is something to provide a little support to the leather.

when I made a couple of bench strops I used a spray adhesive to keep the support in place and then stretched the leather over this.

 

[Estariol]

For a bench strop I’ve used compacted foam as a support - the sort that’s used in packaging and that has some give but reverts back to shape. As for felt, I’d go for the medium or soft - test it with your fingers to see if there is any slight give - all you need is something to provide a little support to the leather.

when I made a couple of bench strops I used a spray adhesive to keep the support in place and then stretched the leather over this.

Big thanks, Rob, i'll check tomorrow with a friend who is an upholsterer, i hope he has some that will suit the requirements. I figure the same felt can be applied to make a jeans or firehose strop as well?
And what do you think of the cowhide that i've posted images of above, is it any good for anything?

 

[UKRob]

And what do you think of the cowhide that i've posted images of above, is it any good for anything?

In my opinion it’s not a suitable surface - too much grain. For a finishing strop you need something smooth that will hit the entire blade but which also has draw. There is no firm conclusion as to exactly what a strop does - Neil Miller, who was a master strop maker and all-round expert on straight razors, raised the possibility that the sharpening effect was achieved through burnishing. If that’s the case, I think a smooth surface is likely to work better than a knobbly one.

 

[Estariol]

In my opinion it’s not a suitable surface - too much grain. For a finishing strop you need something smooth that will hit the entire blade but which also has draw. There is no firm conclusion as to exactly what a strop does - Neil Miller, who was a master strop maker and all-round expert on straight razors, raised the possibility that the sharpening effect was achieved through burnishing. If that’s the case, I think a smooth surface is likely to work better than a knobbly one.

When it's stretched, it' almost if not totally smooth. It' softer than the cordovan. I wanted to make a secondary strop with paste applied from it, but it didn't break the bank, so no big damage to the budget if it remains unused. Just a thought: can the suede side be used?

 

[UKRob]

I don’t know if the leather’s softness is relevant - genuine horween is quite a hard polished finish and you also get very fine suede components to some strops (kanayama for example) that are closer to a Nubuck finish than traditional suede.
im not a strop expert so can’t offer anything more other than to say give it a go and see if it works - you’re unlikely to do any harm to a razor but you may want to test it out on something you’re not worried about.

 

[BlacknTan]

In my opinion it’s not a suitable surface - too much grain. For a finishing strop you need something smooth that will hit the entire blade but which also has draw. There is no firm conclusion as to exactly what a strop does - Neil Miller, who was a master strop maker and all-round expert on straight razors, raised the possibility that the sharpening effect was achieved through burnishing. If that’s the case, I think a smooth surface is likely to work better than a knobbly one.

Neil Miller was indeed a wealth of knowledge, and being a lifelong metal tradesman, I agree wholeheartedly on the effect of burnishing. Anyone who has witnessed the effects that leather belting has on metal sheaves after a few million revolutions would certainly agree!

 

[Steve56]

Neil Miller was indeed a wealth of knowledge, and being a lifelong metal tradesman, I agree wholeheartedly on the effect of burnishing. Anyone who has witnessed the effects that leather belting has on metal sheaves after a few million revolutions would certainly agree!

I have a little curiosity here Bill, by burnishing, do you mean rounding the tops off of striae or the malformed (from shaving) edge more through pressure than abrasiveness? I understand that leather is abrasive to some degree.

 

[BlacknTan]

I have a little curiosity here Bill, by burnishing, do you mean rounding the tops off of striae or the malformed (from shaving) edge more through pressure than abrasiveness? I understand that leather is abrasive to some degree.

It is just smoothing by the act of rubbing, Steve.. No abrasion involved, but it would tens to smooth the striations...

 

[Steve56]

Thanks Bill, that’s what I thought.

 

[JamieM]

Thanks Bill, that’s what I thought.