Investigating the nuances of stropping has been the last stop on my straight journey. I got a Whipped Dog poor man's strop to learn on and pretty much destroyed that. I bought a beautiful Screaming Pig strop, which I have been using for about 2 1/2 months. So I decided I should investigate other leather types now that I am stropping well.
I found some materials on the web to make a latigo strop:
View attachment 142386 View attachment 142385
The stop is 24.5 inches long total, the stropping surface is 20.5 inches, about as long as I can reasonably use, and the strop is about 5 mm thick. It has a modular hanger and I put some pull tabs on the end.
View attachment 142387
My Screaming Pig has a gorgeous sewn leather handle, which I specified, but I find I don't use it as it isn't ergonomic for me, rather I grab the upper seam where it joins the strop itself. So I designed this tab as an end.
View attachment 142388
I like the way it works so much I built it into a couple fabric strops.
View attachment 142389
The whole thing is assembled with Chicago screws, so it can be taken apart and changed or repaired etc.
The leather for this strop is pretty lovely. Thick and stiff and covered with a rich waxy finish. The wax was so heavy I could write in it with my finger. I found it too heavy with too much draw, so I wiped it down with a rag, which helped, but eventually wiped with a rag lightly saturated with citrus chain degreaser, which removed the excess and lightened the draw.
This thing still has a much heavier draw than my Screaming Pig, which is suede like and silky. It has taken some getting used to, but as it breaks in and I get more accustomed to it I find it a nice complement to my SP strop. I have been flexing it and rubbing it with my hand and that is softening it a bit. With the thickness and stiffness of this piece of leather there is not much chance of the leather cupping, and the tab handle on the end serves to keep it flat as well. The tabs are great, I can just hook the finger tips on my hand underneath and my thumb simply applies enough pressure to keep my finger tips from slipping off. I can put as much pull on it as I desire and control the amount of slack easily. I am experimenting with letting a little slack in the strop so the stiff leather can reach around to the edge. Very easy to not roll the edge with this stiff, thick leather.
I bought the gear at this stie: http://zackwhite.com/xcart/ The prices were very reasonable. If you are interested, the parts list is one 2 1/2 inch latigo strip (73-90 inches long, 22 bucks), one 1 1/2 inch solid bronze cast Dee (85 cents), a leather rectangle (2.5 bucks) and 6 brass Chicago screws (3 1/4 inch and 3 3/8 inch; bought by the dozen for about 7.5 bucks for two dozen). If you want to make one yourself it will cost you around 32 bucks plus postage, but you will get more latiigo than you need. I got enough for three hanging strops, a 12 inch bench strop and some scaps left over. So go halvsies with a friend, or PM me and I'll sell you the materials for 1 for my cost plus shipping.
I remember reading Tony Miller saying that the latigo for his strops varied a lot even within a tannery, so I guess there is no guarantee how your leather will look, but I don't think you could go wrong. The strop turned out nicely, I have enough for a second even if I sell one and the company also sells veg tanned leather, harness leather, and bridle leather strips, although the harness leather, at 11/13 ounces is likely too thick. I'll probably get a strip or two of the other leathers to try since it would be cheap to swap out the ends. The leather comes in widths up to 3 1/2 inches, but 2 1/2 is a nice width for me.
Worth trying and it is nice to have a couple contrasting leathers to strop on. I have been experimenting with 30 laps on the latigo followed by 50 on the SP and it leaves a very nicely developed edge. Next project is to glue the 12" strip on some cedar for a leather bench strop.
I found some materials on the web to make a latigo strop:
View attachment 142386 View attachment 142385
The stop is 24.5 inches long total, the stropping surface is 20.5 inches, about as long as I can reasonably use, and the strop is about 5 mm thick. It has a modular hanger and I put some pull tabs on the end.
View attachment 142387
My Screaming Pig has a gorgeous sewn leather handle, which I specified, but I find I don't use it as it isn't ergonomic for me, rather I grab the upper seam where it joins the strop itself. So I designed this tab as an end.
View attachment 142388
I like the way it works so much I built it into a couple fabric strops.
View attachment 142389
The whole thing is assembled with Chicago screws, so it can be taken apart and changed or repaired etc.
The leather for this strop is pretty lovely. Thick and stiff and covered with a rich waxy finish. The wax was so heavy I could write in it with my finger. I found it too heavy with too much draw, so I wiped it down with a rag, which helped, but eventually wiped with a rag lightly saturated with citrus chain degreaser, which removed the excess and lightened the draw.
This thing still has a much heavier draw than my Screaming Pig, which is suede like and silky. It has taken some getting used to, but as it breaks in and I get more accustomed to it I find it a nice complement to my SP strop. I have been flexing it and rubbing it with my hand and that is softening it a bit. With the thickness and stiffness of this piece of leather there is not much chance of the leather cupping, and the tab handle on the end serves to keep it flat as well. The tabs are great, I can just hook the finger tips on my hand underneath and my thumb simply applies enough pressure to keep my finger tips from slipping off. I can put as much pull on it as I desire and control the amount of slack easily. I am experimenting with letting a little slack in the strop so the stiff leather can reach around to the edge. Very easy to not roll the edge with this stiff, thick leather.
I bought the gear at this stie: http://zackwhite.com/xcart/ The prices were very reasonable. If you are interested, the parts list is one 2 1/2 inch latigo strip (73-90 inches long, 22 bucks), one 1 1/2 inch solid bronze cast Dee (85 cents), a leather rectangle (2.5 bucks) and 6 brass Chicago screws (3 1/4 inch and 3 3/8 inch; bought by the dozen for about 7.5 bucks for two dozen). If you want to make one yourself it will cost you around 32 bucks plus postage, but you will get more latiigo than you need. I got enough for three hanging strops, a 12 inch bench strop and some scaps left over. So go halvsies with a friend, or PM me and I'll sell you the materials for 1 for my cost plus shipping.
I remember reading Tony Miller saying that the latigo for his strops varied a lot even within a tannery, so I guess there is no guarantee how your leather will look, but I don't think you could go wrong. The strop turned out nicely, I have enough for a second even if I sell one and the company also sells veg tanned leather, harness leather, and bridle leather strips, although the harness leather, at 11/13 ounces is likely too thick. I'll probably get a strip or two of the other leathers to try since it would be cheap to swap out the ends. The leather comes in widths up to 3 1/2 inches, but 2 1/2 is a nice width for me.
Worth trying and it is nice to have a couple contrasting leathers to strop on. I have been experimenting with 30 laps on the latigo followed by 50 on the SP and it leaves a very nicely developed edge. Next project is to glue the 12" strip on some cedar for a leather bench strop.
)
