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Latigo or Horseside?

jfdupuis

Well-Known Member
Hey guys,

WHat do you recommend I use after honing? I have a VB 2' Web/Latigo strop and an old vintage Craftman Horseside strop?

Thanks!

JF
 
Fu@k knows? hahaha
I use 2 Dovo's one top of the range Linen and Leather (I think they call it Russian?)
And one smaller with a different Linen but they same leather

I always always use the top of the range one after honing 60 on the linen which has dovo white paste (Non cutting) on, then 60 on the leather (dead plain straight out the wrapper) the feel and draw on the Dovo strops is absolutely wonderful, IMO they are a real real pleasure to use, I have NO experience with any of the one you are asking about my friend, but if they out perform my Dovo's I would be utterly amazed.
 
It has a padded handle yeah, Mmm let me go check if its a Jemico?...........

It says "FEINSTES KERN-JUCHTEN Germany" on the top of the Leather?
 
Ok, do you know what the leather is mate? horse or cow etc? and what are them latigo I keep hearing about?
 
i think there cowhide i no they feel nice to strop on all the dovos that is. I have tm latigo they just have much more draw infact lots of draw i still prefer the feel of the dovos they have the right amount of draw but feel so smooth at the same time i prefer them when they hav'nt had strop dressing on them i think it takes away the valvety feel.
 
I like my VB 2' Latigo. It's a little beat up (got it used). I'm actually thinking about getting a replacement component for it. I just finished re-touching my Solingen 5/8 SS razor. (the one that I honed with the DMT followed by coticule). i think I might have spent too much time with light slurry after I taped it. It now barely cuts hair lol. I don't have time to fix it tonight and I think I will wait until I receive my new stone from SRDave. Is it possible that after setting the bevel with no tape and then adding one layer of tape...that I'm spending too much time with light slurry? I think my bout might be a " La Dressante".... SO basically I'm forming a single bevel then adding tape to create a secondary bevel but the end up widening the secondary bevel a bit too much?

Thanks!

JF
 
The consensus that I have come to is that Red Latigo is good by itself, and can keep a razor going 1-3 months, and maybe longer if you have been doing this stuff for many years. By itself horsehide doesn't work as well as the latigo. That's were you get people using latigo then horse. Personally I think that horse and linen is the perfect combo. And I think this is with shell horsehide in particular.

This is from all the shit I've read. I'll be experimenting with my new Kanayama to see if I can come to any conclusions. All I'm for sure of right now is that regular cowhide won't last more than a few weeks, and personally I wouldn't use it past one week. So far my razor has been holding up really nicely with my Kanayama.

I know that MParker is knowledgeable when it comes to strops, you can check out his posts to look for specifics. Also, the "Stropping is King" thread gets really interesting a few pages in.

Justin
 
I've come to believe (and I think mparker762 and I are in agreement) that horsehide isn't as good as latigo on it's own, but that's not the whole story.

The job of a strop is to 1)remove oxidation, 2) draw out the metal (restores sharpness), 3) and align the edge (provides smoothness). I think that latigo is better at jobs 1 & 2, but horsehide does a better job at job 3 than latigo. Additionally, the linen does jobs 1 & 2 better than latigo IMHO

Therefore, I always recommend a horsehide/linen strop for optimal results (my razor maintenance is significantly better now that I've gone to horsehide and linen)
 
richmondesi said:
I've come to believe (and I think mparker762 and I are in agreement) that horsehide isn't as good as latigo on it's own, but that's not the whole story.

The job of a strop is to 1)remove oxidation, 2) draw out the metal (restores sharpness), 3) and align the edge (provides smoothness). I think that latigo is better at jobs 1 & 2, but horsehide does a better job at job 3 than latigo. Additionally, the linen does jobs 1 & 2 better than latigo IMHO

Therefore, I always recommend a horsehide/linen strop for optimal results (my razor maintenance is significantly better now that I've gone to horsehide and linen)

Yep!
 
While I don't know much about strops, leather and I are old friends. Latigo is commonly oil tanned cowhide, and 'shell' horsehide is also known as cordovan (not the color, two spots on the horse's butt that have exceptionally fine grain and density)..

that horsehide is used for strops and the finest shoes and boots, and is worth owning when you get a chance at it.

The quality of latigo wouldn't likely approach that of shell horsehide, disregarding price. I'd get the horsehide and take everyones suggestion to finish on linen, strictly on grounds of quality and longevity.

As happens, I've a side of saddle leather I was wondering about, if 12oz oak tanned could be used for a strop..and it's heavy enough but I've no clue if it's suitable otherwise.
 
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