Cheap strops?

I read a while back that Gold Dollar razors, although generally execrable when bought, can be honed up into quite reasonable razors. But what about cheap Chinese strops? On eBay there are strops to be had for next to nothing.

I know nothing whatsoever about strops, so I'm wondering what the difference is between a cheap strop for a few dollars and a top of the line sort of thing which may cost several hundred dollars.

Also - can one make one's own strop? I mean, suppose you get a leather offcut from somewhere - how hard/easy is it to turn a bit of leather into a workable strop?

Thanks folks!

To answer your last question -- some people use their old belts as a starter strop to make sure they don't ruin something nice.

As for the other parts, I'll let someone with more knowledge answer

Almost any consistent, smooth, clean surface will work as a stropping surface, there are distinct advantages to higher quality linens and leathers.

There are some very good old strops on Ebay. A little saddle soap, neetsfoot oil and elbow grease and you have a classic piece of leather.

I picked up 2 darn near NOS(never used, just stored not flat) shell strops for about $50 each. Not bad for real shell.

A Red Imp and an Emil Paidar. I can't wait to clean em up! The only new strop I would buy is a Kanayama Cordovan or Tony Miller Cordovan. Vintage strops are just such high quality!

how about twenny bux delivered?

http://shop.starshaving.com/product.sc?productId=75&categoryId=2

can't hardly buy a belt for that

or if you can wait, an awesome strop for another twenny plus shipping

http://shop.thewellshavedgentleman....A0701269A8B442F31E9C22B0CEA79E.m1plqscsfapp01

Hello!

I'm joining in the question of AussieGuy.
I am a complete beginner and wanted to buy a strop to go along my WSP GD208. I read here that I will most likely destroy my first razor strop, so I wanted to get something that I would not regret.
So I went along for a chinese strop. Not the cheapest of the cheap, but a 10$ "real leather" one. COuld not find anything about these strops on the forum.
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Leat...harpening-Shave-Free-shipping/2054926235.html
Has anyone ever tried one of those? Did I make a bad move or will it suffice for the time being?
Thanks guys.

Pierauspitz said:

Hello!

I'm joining in the question of AussieGuy.
I am a complete beginner and wanted to buy a strop to go along my WSP GD208. I read here that I will most likely destroy my first razor strop, so I wanted to get something that I would not regret.
So I went along for a chinese strop. Not the cheapest of the cheap, but a 10$ "real leather" one. COuld not find anything about these strops on the forum.
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Leat...harpening-Shave-Free-shipping/2054926235.html
Has anyone ever tried one of those? Did I make a bad move or will it suffice for the time being?
Thanks guys.

Click to expand...

The leather looks decent but rough in the pics. If you sand it then it will probably be great.

aephilli said:

how about twenny bux delivered?

http://shop.starshaving.com/product.sc?productId=75&categoryId=2

can't hardly buy a belt for that

or if you can wait, an awesome strop for another twenny plus shipping

http://shop.thewellshavedgentleman....A0701269A8B442F31E9C22B0CEA79E.m1plqscsfapp01

Click to expand...

I GOTTA start reading where folks are from before I open my mouth and insert my foot......

Do not use cheap leather. The imperfections and ripples in the leather can damage your edge. For a cheap strop use newspaper.

aephilli said:

how about twenny bux delivered?

http://shop.starshaving.com/product.sc?productId=75&categoryId=2

can't hardly buy a belt for that

or if you can wait, an awesome strop for another twenny plus shipping

http://shop.thewellshavedgentleman....A0701269A8B442F31E9C22B0CEA79E.m1plqscsfapp01

Click to expand...

I like expensive razors (who doesn´t?) but I se no advantage in paying too much for a strop. My to go strops are Whipped Dogs Rich Mans Strop (3") and a 3" black Latigo strop from Star Shaving. In my opinion they are both excellent, but I have to say that I prefer the one from Whipped Dog. It isn´t among the cheapest, but I personally can´t se any reason to buy something more expensive. I´d say that you can´t go wrong with either. Even so I do remember that it took Star Shaving a while to deliver

I listened to the voices of reason, and ordered a nice, yet very affordable cordovan and linen strop from Spain, and it arrived very quickly. Pretty nice, long flexible, smooth, light. The leather is very pretty. The linen side is "tube" of plain weave fabric, stitched on one side (are the stitches a problem?). Did my first stropings on it, and already nicked the cordovan in a few places
But a bit of 600 sandpaper, brown leather colour (spirit based) and a dab of bees wax got it back to almost new appearance.

Today, the Chinese one arrived. The brand in "Renren". Oh boy... That thing is MASSIVE! It's very short (less than a foot useable), but very very thick and stiff. Could almost use it as a paddle strop
One side is rough leather (albeit smoother than shown on the pictures of the seller), glued to the other, some sort of textured compressed leather fibres (I think), The whole being a good 3-4mm thick. The surface texture of the compressed leather fibre side reminds me a bit of Isorel, but finer. I guess it's supposed to give the "linen" effect (?). The hardware isn't bad. The rectangular ring seems quite solid, the assembly or the handle and ring is sound and strong (glue + stitching).
I tested it, and wasn't impressed, it actually dulled my razor slightly (but got it back to shape on the cordovan).
So yeah, a case of you get what you pay for. But this might make a nice knife strop or maybe will paste it... dunno, will see.

Polarbeard said:

Even so I do remember that it took Star Shaving a while to deliver

Click to expand...

You can say that again. My goodness, it took ages for mine. Customer service was non existent as well. Nothing wrong with the product, and very reasonable prices.

Question about those super cheap Chinese strops: Of course the leather will be garbage, but on some of the $2 ones they also give you a second canvas or linen strop. Wouldn't those be useful to apply CrOx or other polishing compound to? I doubt they'd be worse than using a strip of old jeans. Can a veteran comment on this?

coase said:

Question about those super cheap Chinese strops: Of course the leather will be garbage, but on some of the $2 ones they also give you a second canvas or linen strop. Wouldn't those be useful to apply CrOx or other polishing compound to? I doubt they'd be worse than using a strip of old jeans. Can a veteran comment on this?

Click to expand...

As you write the leather will probably be rubbish, very much like soft and bad shoe leather. The canvas will be the quality of an old washed denim shirt. That's at least my experience. Out of curiosity I bought one. It was totally unusable. Then again China is a huge country and there is of course good cheap strops there as well.

Buy one, see if you like it and report back. That's the only way to know for sure.