Double Trouble; a Dual-Leather Straight Razor Strop
Here we have a dual-leather strop; where many barber-type strops are linen and leather, this twin-tailed beast offers two different hides to strop upon. Unlike most 2-component strops I make, the working surfaces on this one are opposing; meaning, to use the second strop you flip the entire strop over.
The lighter-colored leather is hard-rolled horsehide that’s been worked and treated but the surface is smooth. You might call this one a plain horsehide as opposed to the velvet-finished types I make most of the time. The draw is what I’d call medium-fast and it has a little bit of ‘slick’ to it. Not like Cordovan, but faster and slicker than the velvet-finish hide.
The darker leather is a thinner and more supple steerhide that I call ‘Black Slickness’; this leather is fantastic right out of the gate, but after it breaks in and the surface looses it’s sheen -that’s when the magic starts to happen. This leather is much faster than the horsehide, and when it ‘mattes down’ it slows up a bit, not much, and it really does an amazing job of burnishing the steel. This side is a teensy bit more narrow than the horsehide, so it 'hides' when hanging.
Conceptually, the basic idea is to start on the horsehide, and finish on the Black Slickness. This technique delivers a 1-2 punch to the edge that, for me, knocks it out of the park.
When I start the routine off by stropping on a fire hose strop; that really puts my edge ‘over the top’.
Both strops were fabricated from all-natural 100% leather hides that were drum dyed & veg tanned. I cut the leather into strips here in Brooklyn NYC, and I hand-finish them into working strops here also. Because I’m working with an all-natural material, each hide comes with it’s own unique pattern of character marks, color variations, and subtle differences in thickness and shading, etc. These are nature’s fingerprints; they are to be expected and admired. While there are always going to be superficial visual ‘imperfections’, each strop will function flawlessly.
Leathers – Horsehide and Steerhide
Width: 2.75”
Overall Length – 31”
Total Stropping Area – 23”
Realistic Stropping Area – 21-22”
Hardware – Nickel & Chrome Plated Steel
