Fire Hose Linen

MikekiM said:

The bench top shortie is awesome!!

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Thank you - I'm loving that piece. That was actually just a stitch-test that wound up working out well, I might make another one, maybe an inch longer. That one in the photo is great for the cabinet in the bathroom, I'd like a slightly longer one on the bench.

Avenolpey said:

http://www.sew4home.com/tips-resources/sewing-tips-tricks/how-attach-metal-rivets-sewing-projects

http://www.sew4home.com/tips-resources/sewing-tips-tricks/how-install-metal-grommets

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The amount of DIY and repurposed fire hose stuff out there is amazing - Wallets, handbags, purses, etc. I had no idea anyone was doing anything with this stuff until I started researching it.

panther308 said:

Have no knowledge or association with seller but found these for those interested:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/221608283364?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

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Has anyone confirmed if he's using all flax fiber hose or a blend? Doesn't matter in a better/worse way, just wondering.

aephilli said:

If you're asking for volunteers, I'd be happy to pay shipping (and beer money) on a piece....

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If I don't get any negative feedback from anyone, I have a few pieces sitting on my desk to go out, just for fun. I know I used the word 'testing' and all but I really should have handled that differently - I just want to make sure I'm not sending people down a dead end and that there's no problems. The hose is, well - ugly, dirty, old, used, etc - and I was thinking that it could possibly be problematic or a waste of time. My experience so far is very good - but a few positive feedbacks from others would bolster my confidence.

Oh, and yeah - your name is on the top of the list.

Gamma said:

Has anyone confirmed if he's using all flax fiber hose or a blend? Doesn't matter in a better/worse way, just wondering.

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I contacted him via his Etsy shop with that exact question, and never received a response. Too bad; might've bought one if he answered me.

Gamma said:

...
Oh, and yeah - your name is on the top of the list.

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TimS said:

I contacted him via his Etsy shop with that exact question, and never received a response. Too bad; might've bought one if he answered me.

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His ad says (cotton/linen). If you can tell me how to determine all flax from blend I will examine mine and report. Still works great.

Cotton/Linen means, to me - either a blend of the two or a loose interpretation of the term linen like when someone says they're using a linen hanger for pastes. It's often not a real linen material.
Fire hoses of this type that I've seen were referred to/stamped as being made from Flax Fiber - I don't recall the word 'linen' being used.

Edit
There was a type of fire hose that was cotton/linen. It is marked on the hose as 'Linen' - I did not see the word 'cotton' but I was told that the specs for the hose indicate that it's a blend of both fibers.

Franken-stitching out, Chicago rivets found and installed. D-rings on both ends.
It's only been a short while since I've been using it regularly - but so far so good.
I'm sensing that the hose is imparting a positive fingerprint on the edge that's not felt when using other linens or fabrics.
It's hard to make a definitive and purely objective claim - since the testing is pretty non-scientific. However - I have a bunch of strops and I've been using them for a good long while. I"m going back/forth daily with one razor on them. Thus far - my senses are dialed into my gear very well and they're telling me there's a not-so-subtle edge improvement from this material.

While this strop isn't what I'd call a 'game changer' in a purely objective sense, I do think I'll be putting the Kanayama canvas and suede strops away soon. The bench-top piece is the best edge cleaner ever, so that'll be a permanent attraction that sees a lot of use.

This is my firehose strop, I absolutely love it.

That came out fantastic. Love the rivets.

I don't know what this firehose thing is made out of but I really like the way cleans the edge. The feedback is like no other webbed component I've ever tried, very close to polypropylene but not as noisy and a better cleaner.

That hose is 100% Flax Fiber. A linen of sorts. Wouldn't want to wear a shirt made out of it though.

Some the staining looks like rust, you could use CLR to get that out. Looks awesome!

Could be rust - a few people have commented on that. I'm not convinced though. But - the small bench strop is slated for a CLR soak soon just in case that's what it is. I ran out and haven't been to the hardware store here to pick up more. I've been working on the de-gunking process and testing the material's efficacy.

Still plugging away at this project. I picked up a 2.5" Hose that's 100% Flax Fiber, and started cleaning some strips I cut off the roll.

I learned a lot about cleaning and stitching this stuff during this leg of the journey.
1st - stitching the ends shut before cleaning seems like a good idea but it's not. Stitching the ends is critical in the sense that it stops the ends from fraying, but it doesn't allow the hose to dry as well and it also traps any ground in dirt that seeps into the inside.
Found that out by doing just that, drying it, and then cutting it open afterwards.
So the new drill is to sew a 'bead' around the end but I leave the hose open on both ends.

Secondly - the soak in SG loosens al of the grime, and most of it just sluffs off. But, some grunge remains embedded in the weary, and a stiff brushing helps to clear it out.

Next - I can tell that the hose is clean if, when I"m brushing it in the sink, I roll it up to squeeze suds or whatever out and the suds squish out clear. Before that, the suds might be a bit grungy. I only had to do this once/twice for each piece. I'm sure the following cycle in the washing machine would clear it but since I'm there and it's easy to do I just deal with it.

Any rogue fuzzys from the weave can be taken off with a pill-shaver - the kind you use on sweaters and stuff.

Lastly - I've come to realize that this hose will never be perfectly spotless and sparkling. It's too old, too used, and whatever defects are there are have set in over a loooong time.
But - the hose does clean up admirably. While maybe not well enough for an AOS showroom, and I'm ok with that.
To be honest, I like the rustic weathered utilitarian look.

Note - Compared to the linen/cotton blend I just tried out, I prefer this 100% flax material a lot more. It feels better under the blade to me, and it also seems to be more effacious to the edge. I can actually see a bit of added haze on the bevel with a 4x loupe after 20 laps. The blended material had very little visual effect after 50 laps.

The perceived effect when shaving is hard to isolate and enumerate - I want to say the flax hose enhances sharpness somehow, but all I can say for sure is that the hose give me better feedback and my edges do seem to have been kicked up a fraction of a notch. But that could just be my mind playing tricks on me.

If I keep going with this project, I'll have the cleaning cycle locked down in a couple of weeks. It takes a lot of time for this stuff to dry so the process is slow going. Hardware takes 4-5 days to arrive, etc.
Plus - there's a million other things going on here so strop work can only get a portion of my free time.

Anyway - sorry for the blathering... here's the latest permutation; 2.5" 100% Flax Fiber hose from 1950, made in Canada. The 2.5" bottom D-ring, rivets and swivel snap hook are nickel plated brass.

I sealed the ends of the piece you hooked me up with with contact cement and it worked really well. After over 50 razors it has not come apart at all.

Cool, I may try that on one piece during the next go-around.

My main concern is when I'm washing it and drying it after. When it's wet the fabric swells and frays and I can lose 1" from one cycle in the machine. When it drys the ends splay out even more.

That is looking really good! I agree with you on the efficacy of flax linen. It seems to add just that little extra something to an edge.

I think that might be the case to be honest. I'm usually not swayed by such thoughts and I think it's only because I put a lot of time into this that I'm second guessing myself.
To be honest, the cool factor is enough allure on its own for me. I hate to say it but I get a charge out of stropping on this stuff simply because it's fire hose.
The feedback is incredible, so that's another plus. The heavy weave really puts another layer of sensation into the mix.
The edge treatment though - I'm sort of sold on these flax fibers being a cut above the rest for our purposes.
Just wish cleaning it up wasn't so labor intensive. I would love to find a mint, sealed, NOS, never even taken out of the box hose made out of this stuff. I can dream, can't I?

Do you have a TM real linen component to compare the edge enhancement? Just curious as to whether this stuff seems as effective.

The flax linen tube I use, I sealed the ends with pva glue. Don't use ca glue, it can cause an entertaining thermic reaction. Ask me how I know.