[joke1176]

Here we have a travel strop set, made by my friend fpessanha. I told him I would give an honest review of it, so here goes:



The leather he used is very soft, much softer than the TM latigo strop I have. I have used it on a few razors, and would say it has 1/2 the draw of the oiled TM strop.



The handles are a darker color, evenly cut on both strops and very symmetrical. The grommets look to be standard press fit pieces, and feel well put together. The black stuff on the other strop is an abrasive compound barbers in Portugal use.



The good:
-excellent quality, very uniform leather. Light draw, and very flexible, ideal for a travel strop.
-length is great, and it rolls up very compactly
-uniform size, coloration, shape and construction

The bad:
-I smeared the black abrasive paste around and tried it on a sacrificial razor (Genco Head barber), that stuff cuts way too fast/aggressive for me. I removed it, and may apply some Chrome Ox at a later date.

-ummm.... lets see... something else... It doesn't have a long enough shoelace to be used in a wider variety of situations? That's the only negative thing I can find. Sorry fpessanha!

Overall impression: This is a great travel strop, I am very happy with it and I am deeply honored that fpessanha made it for me.
In fact, if someone stole my TM strop, I would happily use this one as a daily strop.

[Chris L]

Thanks for posting this. I always like to see the work that people do. Our hobby is great since for quite a few items, we're able to have success with making our own equipment while we're also still able to appreciate and obtain high quality artisan products like Tony makes.

For travel strops in general, I just have not had good impressions on the single center punched grommet. I don't feel the strop stays as flat and cups more when pulled taught than a strop with a hanger clip/D ring. That's the big reason I don't use my latigo travel strop for much of anything at this point. In a pinch, I can get by with it, so, the "travel" moniker I guess is fitting.

Thanks again.

Chris L

[joke1176]

Now that you mention it Chrisl, that's something that could be improved upon!

Some sort of crossbar to prevent cupping would be a definite improvement without sacrificing transportability.

Hopefully fpessanha will chime in here and enlighten us on his process and techniques.

[fpessanha]

Hi there!

Here I am... ready to answer all the questions you might have.
First of all, Joe, thanks for posting this. I am really glad you liked it, and certainly hope that you make good use of this strop.
The leather, I think is of good quality and indeed the draw of it is quite low. I personaliy find that a bit less draw on the strop gives you a more confortable stropping motion, despite the fact that you can indeed let it slip out of control and, if not moving with caution, cause the blade to nick the strop or something. I suppose draw can be inproved upon by means of applying some sort of strop dressing instead of the nivea hand cream I apply only to hydrate the leather.
The black paste - the bad thing Joe talked about - is an experiment. No problem removing it though... It is quite abrasive and a very fast cutter. I use it and I am quite satisfied... but I always proceed with caution.
The shoelace thing to hold the strop... welll... I also thought it was too short. It was my last piece of shoelace for that purposed so I had to make do with it...
Now concerning the punched grommet: I use this technique for several reasons - it is effective form my point of view, quite lightweight and easy to apply and keeps the manufacture very, very simple and cheap, despite the fact that quality is not affected. I think... One other reason is that I cannot find one single hardware store in my home town! Terrible thing... but true. Finding the leather was, in essense, a true Saga! But trully... I understand the cupping thing; but I cannot complain: I use my strops daily and never noticed any cupping. Maybe that's because I use a narrower one, but even with the wider one I made, I did not notice that...

I hear your opinions and I am taking my notes... I will inprove on them. Actualy I already have some ideas for new strops. More sophisticated handles and more complex ways of keeping it hung on the wall. I am not a fan of D rings, but I have some other ideas... As soon as I have the time I will go back to the workshop (aka the kitchen), talk to my little elfs who are very helpful and get back to work.

Thank you very much for the review, Joe! And to you too, Chris, for pointing out other flaws on the strop design. I will work on them further and maybe I can be able to provide people (and myself...) with a better product. Long live Tony Miller! Will I ever be able to afford a Tony Miller strop?...

And by the way, Joe... would you be so kind as to tell me if the Genko survived the paste test? It cuts fast... I thought I told you that, but since you are a pasted strop guy, I was wondering if you found it useful (clearly not, because you are going to remove the paste...) for thougher work and what was the result of that stropping on your guinea-pig razor. Thanks!

[Chris L]

Originally Posted by fpessanha

And to you too, Chris, for pointing out other flaws on the strop design.

Personally to be clear I don't consider the single centered grommet in your strop and Tony's a "flaw". It is what it is, and it's there for all the positive reasons you've mentioned well. If anything, for my own personal experience, I would only go as far as to say that I found the behavior of the strop when taught coupled with my technique to be incompatible. As you've clearly indicated with your own positive experience, others may not have the same experiences I have. A single centered grommet strop cups for me which I don't like but my other strops don't.

I've posted recently that I was fortunate enough to obtain a few of the Hand American Horse Butt strips and some of the honing/stropping felt. I'm in the process of testing the first strop I've made now. I'll be crafting approximately 5-6 strops as a one time creation and I'll be selling some of those on BST. I have a great appreciation for Tony and Kenrup after making some strops myself. Making strops with a proper fit, finish and functionality is very labor intensive!

Chris L

[joke1176]

Originally Posted by fpessanha

Hi there!

And by the way, Joe... would you be so kind as to tell me if the Genko survived the paste test? It cuts fast... I thought I told you that, but since you are a pasted strop guy, I was wondering if you found it useful (clearly not, because you are going to remove the paste...) for thougher work and what was the result of that stropping on your guinea-pig razor. Thanks!

Oh yeah, the razor is fine. Nothing a few rounds on the Spydercos won't fix! You did tell me it was fast, and I gave my razor HELL on that stuff to see what it could do.

If I didn't like honing so much, I would definitely use that black paste instead of touch-up honing to refresh an edge.

I really can't complain about the strops though, they are really really nice. I couldn't be happier. Seriously.

[fpessanha]

If I didn't like honing so much, I would definitely use that black paste instead of touch-up honing to refresh an edge.

That's what I do with the paste: I touch up... And that's what barbers over here apparently did. They used the paste and didn't use hones of any sort. As I told you in a previous PM, that's what I've understood from a conversation I had with an old barber...

And thank you very, very much for the complement. I am very plesed that you liked my work. Would you care to be my guinea-pig for further strop testing?

Thanks!

[joke1176]

Are you kidding me? Of course!

[fpessanha]

I'll keep in touch...

I have some ideas I can advance at the moment: I am going to do a travel thing - let's call it that... -, a roll-up thing to put 3 or more or less razors and a paddle strop (bery small...)... for travelling purposes, again. I like travelling as you can assume. That and some other hanging strops. Leon (also portuguese) told me of a shop in his town that sells leather. I will go there some time soon and buy some more leather. Then I'll tell you what I have and you tell me what you want... And experimenting we shall go, followind the yellow brick road of straight razor shaving!!

If anyone else cares to join and sing along... fell free to PM me!

[Akady]

Originally Posted by joke1176

Overall impression: This is a great travel strop, I am very happy with it and I am deeply honored that fpessanha made it for me.
In fact, if someone stole my TM strop, I would happily use this one as a daily strop.

Whats your address?

[kelbro]

I travel a lot (sitting in an airport lounge right now ) and always have to use a disposable. I don't check bags and they won't let my carry on through with a straight in it.

[Tony Miller]

I don't think you will find too many of my Apprentice strops cupping. I did have a less than perfect batch of leather and occasionally one will be a bit thinner than others and likely that is what is giving Chrisl his cupping problem. I did offer to replace his if he wants.

I think the weight and stiffness of what I use on Apprentice strops (heavier that normal) will not result in cupping with normal use.

Tony

[Leon]

Originally Posted by fpessanha

Leon (also portuguese) told me of a shop in his town that sells leather. I will go there some time soon and buy some more leather.

Hello.

Congrats on the review, my friend!
Yes, I spotted a leather shop with all kinds of leather. I'll show you the shop when we'll make our own "SRP Portuguese get together" . I bet you'll find what you need there.

Best of luck on your new ideas on the next strops!

[joke1176]

Originally Posted by Tony Miller

I don't think you will find too many of my Apprentice strops cupping. I did have a less than perfect batch of leather and occasionally one will be a bit thinner than others and likely that is what is giving Chrisl his cupping problem. I did offer to replace his if he wants.

I think the weight and stiffness of what I use on Apprentice strops (heavier that normal) will not result in cupping with normal use.

Tony

So thickness of the leather is key to prevent cupping eh? Thanks for the PSA!

[Tony Miller]

Originally Posted by joke1176

So thickness of the leather is key to prevent cupping eh? Thanks for the PSA!

It is if making a strop with a single point of attachment. My practice strops are thinner and can easily distort if pulled to hard yet that same leather thickness works well for my Artisans. Supple is good in most cases as it allows the strop to conform to the razors edge, but supple or thin with a single hanging point can cup if pulled too tightly.

I feel the suppleness of the one being reviewed here is likely a plus as long as one pulls gently. There is a balance between thickness and supplenss. Too thick and too stiff is not as good, especially if the thickness is not needed as in a strop with a wider attachment point or hardware.

I have not seen one of the ones being reviewed here but it looks to me like it does just what it is supposed to do, so that makes it a success in my book.

Tony

[joke1176]

Just a quick update on this strop. I have been doing a side by side comparison with the TM strop for a little while now and here is what I have:

-does the job, but takes a few more strokes due to the length difference.

-the springy/flexible nature of it, IMHO, works really well with the warped restores I have. Now, I really really like my TM. Really. Seriously, I think it might be some kind of lust, at least. BUT, I think the fpessanha strop works better with the warped razors I have, it conforms to em a little better.

I never thought I would be a strop AD guy, but fpessanha is doing bad things to me.

[fpessanha]

Originally Posted by joke1176

I never thought I would be a strop AD guy, but fpessanha is doing bad things to me.

It's not my fault! I really think that, deep down, we all have some sort of AD... I have SMD (Strop making disorder), the infamous RAD (tough under control since I have to borrow a credit card for that...), and SAD... This one is fed by my girlfriend that just loves that I smell good in the morning! I guess she's the one with SAD. And guess what? The other day I sneaked in on her and she was on eBay looking for... straight razors! Yeah... she's perfect! Plus she lent me all the tools so I could make the strops!

[Tony Miller]

Originally Posted by joke1176

Seriously, I think it might be some kind of lust, at least. BUT, I think the fpessanha strop works better with the warped razors I have, it conforms to em a little better.

I never thought I would be a strop AD guy, but fpessanha is doing bad things to me.

"There is a balance between thickness and supplenss. Too thick and too stiff is not as good, especially if the thickness is not needed as in a strop with a wider attachment point or hardware."

The above quote from my own post is why the balance between thick and thin is important. Thick (and slightly stiff) is less likely to cup, thin (and slightly pliable) conforms better to curved blades. Add to that personal taste in how you want it to feel (which may have nothing to do with how it works).

In this case thinner and more supple will pack much easier than mine would for sure and likely better if just for travel.

Tony

[joke1176]

Originally Posted by Tony Miller

"There is a balance between thickness and supplenss. Too thick and too stiff is not as good, especially if the thickness is not needed as in a strop with a wider attachment point or hardware."

The above quote from my own post is why the balance between thick and thin is important. Thick (and slightly stiff) is less likely to cup, thin (and slightly pliable) conforms better to curved blades. Add to that personal taste in how you want it to feel (which may have nothing to do with how it works).

In this case thinner and more supple will pack much easier than mine would for sure and likely better if just for travel.

Tony

Your horsehide is more supple, isn't it? I may have to invest in one of those eventually...