Leather vs Newspaper

What makes leather the strop of choice? Why is it better than newspaper or balsa?
I have only used newspaper, taped on a granite square and it seems to work very well.
Will I notice a difference after using leather compared to newspaper?
I am currently looking for a small 12" by 4" piece of leather to make a paddle strop with. Does anyone know a good source? I don't want to buy a whole cow, just a small piece to try.
Thanks for the help.

What country are you in? In the US everybody seems to go to a Tandy store.

I use a news paper, then a leather strop.

Debrushman said:

What makes leather the strop of choice? Why is it better than newspaper or balsa?
I have only used newspaper, taped on a granite square and it seems to work very well.
Will I notice a difference after using leather compared to newspaper?
I am currently looking for a small 12" by 4" piece of leather to make a paddle strop with. Does anyone know a good source? I don't want to buy a whole cow, just a small piece to try.
Thanks for the help.

Click to expand...

People have been doing this stropping thing for a long time and leather is the method of choice. I'm sure if newspaper was superior that's what the barbers would have used.

Thebigspendur said:

People have been doing this stropping thing for a long time and leather is the method of choice. I'm sure if newspaper was superior that's what the barbers would have used.

Click to expand...

And a newspaper hanging from the side of the chair would look silly. I'm hoping to score one of my childhood barber's strops now that he is mostly retired.

You can get a piece of bridle leather from Larry at whipped dog for under $11. It's good quality stuff.

Newspaper works, but IMHO not quite as good as your average piece of leather. And it will quickly wear out. Newspaper is great for learning proper stropping technique. It beats slashing your first leather strop to bits. In an emergency a page of newspaper folded into a strip and doubled over a towel rack makes a usable makeshift strop. I have never heard of anyone using newspaper for their regular, everyday strop. It just isn't the best option.

rod251 said:

You can get a piece of bridle leather from Larry at whipped dog for under $11. It's good quality stuff.

Click to expand...

+1 on Larry. You can specify width and length too, and last time I checked he was selling bridle leather

I live in NYC and unfortunately there is no Tandy near me. Thanks for the info. about Larry, I will look into it.
I know that alot of people have posted pics showing the blade edge coming off various stones., but does anyone have pics coming off different strips?
Thanks in advance.

WoodCraft carries Hand American Honing Leather (6" x 12") at their retail stores and also sells it by mail order. I have purchased this leather and 3 x 24 x 3/4 planed hardwood boards at my local Woodcraft. 3-M 77 spray adhesive on the wood will make two 3 x 12 inch bench or paddle strops. There is a WoodCraft store in Norwalk CT within driving distance of NYC.

I cut the wood into two 3 x 12 inch pieces and spray them with adhesive. One board is placed along the edge of the rough side of the 6 x 12 inch leather, glue side down and the 3 inches of leather overhang cut off with a sharp razor-knife. The 3 x 12 inch leather remnant is then glued to the second 3 x 12 inch board.

I use several of these strops, pasted and unpasted, for knives. I prefer a TM Latigo strop for razors because of its longer length, but use a razor-dedicated set of pasted homebrew strops for razor touchups.

Although these strops are made of good honing leather, they are cheap enough (about $ 10 - 15 each) to replace if nicked badly or to give away as gifts for people learning to sharpen knives or razors. They are also cheap enough to make a set of strops using several different pasting agents and grits. You can make the strops for about $ 8 each if you already have the glue and boards.

HTH

Hi,
Thanks for the info on Woodcraft. Unfortunately there is no Woodcraft in my area. No Tandy, no Woodcraft, oh the humanity.
I live in NYC, you would think they would have these stores here.
I am going to give Larry a try. I will report back on what I find.
Thank you very much