Anyone ever used the Kanayama Board strop?

**brother cavefish** · 05-22-2012, 12:08 PM

Originally Posted by danjared

Sure, but at least this "shoe leather" is an excellent one to use and one of the traditional leathers for making strops. (Compare the number of antique horsehide and cordovan strops you can find compared to those made of cow hide.) In comparison, English Bridle is overly waxy and oiled, which is great for horse tack (its intended purpose) but lacks the finesse many want in a strop. Some like cheap gas station coffee too, but many others prefer something more refined.

In regards to "why not buy American", it's not an issue of buying American or not. What makes Japanese leather better in this case is that this strop is made by someone who is likely the very last professional of his kind. Some could care less, but I see no point in criticizing the work of a master artisan.

By the way, as far as I'm aware, I believe the number of cordovan tanneries in the world can be counted on one hand. Consider that and the scarcity of shell, and you'll notice that the price isn't so out there.

no offense my friend, but your statement points to what i have just said---------How do you know its better, , Personally i think, IF for example one took a Tony miller strop and conditioned it their OWN way, tallow, neadsfoot oil, soap, whatever every draw will be different and one could say----------- this one is better than the other , ALSO each piece of leather is different----------------the fact remains if one is willing pay 3 or 4 times as much for something , thats up to them, -------------personally I did what Kanayama, tony miller, SR, and many others did MADE MY OWN, and it works----------if one wants to believe that the last samurai, Spanish, german, Portuguese "expert" is still alive and making strops and by getting it they have the BEST, HEY, experts come and go, people use Newspaper and get amazing results, nothing changes, as far criticizing the work, i am not----------- i am criticizing the Price

**global_dev** · 05-22-2012, 12:48 PM

Originally Posted by brother cavefish

no offense my friend, but your statement points to what i have just said---------How do you know its better, , Personally i think, IF for example one took a Tony miller strop and conditioned it their OWN way, tallow, neadsfoot oil, soap, whatever every draw will be different and one could say----------- this one is better than the other , ALSO each piece of leather is different----------------the fact remains if one is willing pay 3 or 4 times as much for something , thats up to them, -------------personally I did what Kanayama, tony miller, SR, and many others did MADE MY OWN, and it works----------if one wants to believe that the last samurai, Spanish, german, Portuguese "expert" is still alive and making strops and by getting it they have the BEST, HEY, experts come and go, people use Newspaper and get amazing results, nothing changes, as far criticizing the work, i am not----------- i am criticizing the Price

bro cave,

we all get it's not inexpensive, but you are criticizing far more than price.

- kanayama was supposedly ensuring every piece of shell cordovan leather was up to a certain standard.

- having seen my SRD and Star Shaving strops, their level of standards are sufficiently different. i don't have local access to the leathers, material, hardware and tools that would make sense to build a strop vs just buy one of that quality that i desire.

- i am pretty sure cordovan is suggested not to be post-tanning treated by the customer. if that draw is not what you wanted, you bought the wrong strop.

- yes, you are correct, worth is completely subjective which says nothing about overpriced goods

- i am going to guess that since kanayama seems to be one of the few working with cordovan as strops there is a particular reason? did kanayama tan the hide? why is no one else really working with cordovan other than the horween pieces?

- leather thickness is not an indicator of strop quality only quality of the piece of leather used in the strop, and apparently sufficient amounts of thick and long cordovan is not as easy to come by as a thinner, shorter piece...

- i haven't seen anyone get better results with newspapers that knows how to strop on a hanging strop...

- until you have tried a cordovan strop, there is little to know how to compare it to others..

i am very glad your strop is working out for you...

i wonder why shell cordovan products are also more expensive then their "regular" counterparts... so why are you criticizing the price? it seems in line with industry norms

**Harvitz81** · 05-22-2012, 01:51 PM

A Fine Stars costs about $110 to ship, a TM with linen upgrade costs around $95 shipped. Guess I am not seeing this 3-4 times price difference. In fact I'm seeing around 15 bucks. My Scrupleworks strops were right in line with these in price and in fact these and the aforementioned TM and Kanayama's are all I own. I've had a lot of strops come and go and these artisan ones are the only ones I see of high quality from what I've had.

Yes, just about any piece of leather defect of surface imperfections will work for maintaining an edge. What you are paying for in artisan works is commitment to quality and attention to detail. My Kanayama's are still the highest quality piece of stropping surface I've yet to encounter. To each their own.

**brother cavefish** · 05-22-2012, 04:05 PM

its all good bros

**brother cavefish** · 05-22-2012, 04:28 PM

Originally Posted by Harvitz81

A Fine Stars costs about $110 to ship, a TM with linen upgrade costs around $95 shipped. Guess I am not seeing this 3-4 times price difference. In fact I'm seeing around 15 bucks. My Scrupleworks strops were right in line with these in price and in fact these and the aforementioned TM and Kanayama's are all I own. I've had a lot of strops come and go and these artisan ones are the only ones I see of high quality from what I've had.

Yes, just about any piece of leather defect of surface imperfections will work for maintaining an edge. What you are paying for in artisan works is commitment to quality and attention to detail. My Kanayama's are still the highest quality piece of stropping surface I've yet to encounter. To each their own.

your talking strops-------i am talking this bench strop----------are far as getting a good edge one can get it on a balsa and or a poormans strop, as far as commitment to quality and attention to detail.- Yes, i am all for that , thats why i made mine, i had a particular want and feel and design