Source of Leather for strop

[Brad Swanson]

I'd like to make a 2 sided leather strop, and am wondering if the neander community could recommend a source for the leather. I've never used a strop before. Thanks very much.

Cheers,
Brad

[David Weaver]

Ebay. If you want cowhide, look for Veg. Tanned cowhide in 8/9 ounce weight.

if you want horsehide, look for "horse butt strip" in a similar weight (if you can find it).

(the weight is not critical, if you get thinner or thicker, it will work fine).

Some of the leathers are fairly rough when you first get them. Once you glue them to a strop you can oil them or sand them. My preference is to oil them, because it makes it very easy to see if you don't have a good edge (if you have a nick or failure to polish to the edge, the leather will show it easily when oiled by leaving lines in the surface where the nick roughs up the leather. A single pass with a polished edge then smashes the leather back into the dark even coloring of the rest of the strop. the other benefit to oil is that you can keep cleaning the surface of a strop by using an oily rag - which will keep the leather supple and not dry, and get most of the swarf off).

[george wilson]

I've been pretty happy with my MDF and green compound strop. I hate the looks and feel of it,but it does a razor sharp job without rounding the edge at all.

I don't usually bother getting kitchen knives so sharp,but just yesterday I got my pocket knife,and the LV 6" Japanese kitchen knife sharp enough to shave with. That Japanese knife will really take a super keen edge.

Since my wife was a book binder(I taught her and the shop how to sharpen their tools on request),she can use it without being afraid of it,or cutting herself.

Normally I just grind kitchen knives sharp enough for food on my 3000 grit disc on my horizontal/vertical diamond grinder at 200 rpm. I start with the 260 grit disc. The knives get whacked on the wooden cutting board,so getting them excessively sharp doesn't last a long time. But,I was up for a bit of fun. Seeing how sharp that laminated Japanese blade will get is a treat. The hard steel in it is only about 1/100" thick,or so.

[Paul Sidener]

You can get leather in a lot of places. You just need a couple of scrapes. You can get by with 6-7 oz. 8-9 oz would be better. Look at Hobby Lobby, Tandy Leather. Just make sure it's veg tanned.

[John Coloccia]

The MDF and compound works quite well. I still use leather because it's just what I've always used. I'll second Tandy Leather. They usually have a scrap bin and you should be able to find appropriate pieces there. There are tons of other uses for leather in the shop. Vice jaw faces, lining various jigs and things to keep from marring surfaces, hard leather wrapped around wood for cushioned sanding forms (a closet pole flattened on one side works great for this), etc. Me loves the leather.

[Brett Luna]

As mentioned, look for vegetable tanned cowhide and from higher up the hide it comes, the better. Look for terms like 'strap leather' or 'belt shoulder'. Stay away from belly cuts. It's too soft and stretchy for strop work, IMO. Another option is bridle leather. One of my straight razor strops is made from it but I use it without dressing. The other strop is linen.

[Jerry Thompson]

I got my leather at a shoe repair shop. I told him what I wanted it for and he cut a piece off of a hide and sold it too me. I don't know how it was tanned or its weight but it works.

[Justin Green]

We have several tack shops nearby that make saddles and belts and other leather goods and will sell various types of leather pieces at a reasonable price.

[Brad Swanson]

Thanks for the input. I have plenty of MDF around and some green compound on the way, maybe I'll start with that.

[Tony Shea]

For plane blades and chisels I still fall back to the MDF with green compound. Most of my sloyd carving knives will go on the leather with a light touch to prevent rounding the edge.

[bridger berdel]

For shop tools I use hard maple, planed smooth (not sanded) with green compound. For razors I have a "scotch shell" strop that I treated lightly, once, long ago with jeweller's rouge. Kitchen knives get maintained on a medium smooth steel.

[Michael N Taylor]

Tandy leather craft has all kinds of leather and you can usually find what you want, if there is not one in your area you can order online.

[Roy Lindberry]

I had good luck with this.

http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/129316/Leather-for-HoneSlip-Makers.aspx

[Roger Nair]

The following link is for horse butt appox. 14 x 48 in. More than eight times the leather than Woodcraft, plus it's horsehide plus it's less than twice the price of the Woodcraft item.


http://www.sheridanleather.com/Horse_Strips_p/3104.htm

[Mike Brady]

I second what Roger says about horse butt and the source for it. I don't recommend Tandy unless you can actually go to their store. Their prices are very high, but you can negotiate with them. Unfortunately, they sell mostly "sides", which are 1/2 of a cow. This is about a $200 investment.

Tools for Working Wood often has horse butt strops.

[Brian Holcombe]

I've been pretty happy with my MDF and green compound strop. I hate the looks and feel of it,but it does a razor sharp job without rounding the edge at all.

I don't usually bother getting kitchen knives so sharp,but just yesterday I got my pocket knife,and the LV 6" Japanese kitchen knife sharp enough to shave with. That Japanese knife will really take a super keen edge.

Since my wife was a book binder(I taught her and the shop how to sharpen their tools on request),she can use it without being afraid of it,or cutting herself.

Normally I just grind kitchen knives sharp enough for food on my 3000 grit disc on my horizontal/vertical diamond grinder at 200 rpm. I start with the 260 grit disc. The knives get whacked on the wooden cutting board,so getting them excessively sharp doesn't last a long time. But,I was up for a bit of fun. Seeing how sharp that laminated Japanese blade will get is a treat. The hard steel in it is only about 1/100" thick,or so.

I was watching videos on how Japanese chef's cut with their knives and one of the reasons for pulling the knife through rather than chopping and pushing sideways was for that exact reason, they can keep their knives very sharp for long periods of time. I do the same now and even my German knife (haven't settled on a Japanese knife yet) will stay sharp until my wife starts using them.

[ian maybury]

Thanks for the lead on the horse butt source Roger.

[David Weaver]

I was watching videos on how Japanese chef's cut with their knives and one of the reasons for pulling the knife through rather than chopping and pushing sideways was for that exact reason, they can keep their knives very sharp for long periods of time. I do the same now and even my German knife (haven't settled on a Japanese knife yet) will stay sharp until my wife starts using them.

Not that you need to rush out and buy a knife, but if you get a decent shaped japanese knife in something pedestrian (like blue #2 or VG-10) and the spec hardness is over 60, you'll be surprised how much better they hold a fruit and vegetable type edge, and how much keener they seem (partly because they have such a narrow profile to begin with.

Run of the mill quickie made knives can be had for about the same price as a german knife. I think I spent $75 on the knife I use, and I cast off my german knife to the wife because she ...well, she can make anything dull. I keep two japanese knives - one in VG 10 that looks like a western knife that stays in the knife block (because I know it will get used sometime by someone other than me and be put away wet), and a second one that I keep on the top shelf of a cabinet - a blue steel santoku. I keep the first one very sharp, but the second one is ground gradual enough and is kept so sharp that nobody else will use it. that's intentional. It's the same indulgent principle to me as straight razor shaving - you take something that you have to do and you turn it into entertainment instead, and all of the sudden, it's fun to do.

[ian maybury]

Just got my 'horse butt' from Sheridan Leather: http://www.sheridanleather.com/Horse_Strips_p/3104.htm

Nice people, good service, no problems apart from the usual variable trans-Atlantic mailing times.

Horse butt turns out to be quite a lot different to the sort of veg tanned cowgide I was offered locally - very much harder (i ordered the hard grade), nice and smooth on the smooth side, but about half the thickness (good i imagine). The piece is a bit smaller than I expected. Still very good value, but the quoted dimensions are the longest of a fairly irregular piece in the traditional shape rather than the sides of a rectangle.

Looks like a very good bet to produce a hard but smooth stropping surface that's not going to mess up edge geometry.

Next up is to make some strops and try it out...

[Bill Rhodus]

I gravitated to the MDF from leather because of the issue of rounding over. I have found that my carving tools can be stropped more times before needing a fine stone if I use the MDF. I don't see as great a difference with plane irons.

[David Weaver]

Just got my 'horse butt' from Sheridan Leather: http://www.sheridanleather.com/Horse_Strips_p/3104.htm

Nice people, good service, no problems apart from the usual variable trans-Atlantic mailing times.

Horse butt turns out to be quite a lot different to the sort of veg tanned cowgide I was offered locally - very much harder (i ordered the hard grade), nice and smooth on the smooth side, but about half the thickness (good i imagine). The piece is a bit smaller than I expected. Still very good value, but the quoted dimensions are the longest of a fairly irregular piece in the traditional shape rather than the sides of a rectangle.

Looks like a very good bet to produce a hard but smooth stropping surface that's not going to mess up edge geometry.

Next up is to make some strops and try it out...

Thinner for horse butt is right. I got some 8/9 ounce horse butt and it's half the thickness of the same weight cowhide and many times harder. When you glue it to wood, it is hard enough that it is percussive. If it gets contaminated, you can sand it. It's nice stuff and very durable.

[Jebediah Eckert]

I found a local company that makes saddles. They gave me a bunch of super thick odd sized scrap for free. Enough for a lifetime.