New Member with a leather surface question

[Chrisl]

Hello everyone. I'm a new member that found this forum just today. I must first ask you all to forgive my ignorance regarding leather in general. I have almost no knowledge in this area!

I use leather everyday however since I shave exclusively with a straight edge razor. Razors must be stropped on leather for maximum effectiveness. Typically these days cowhide is the most used form of leather for strops with horseside (horse butt) a close second. In the past, the shell portion of the horsehide was used to make the best leather strops.

Blah blah, now to my question! I have purchased three horse butt strips about 5 feet long and I intend on making a few of my own horsehide leather strops. These would simply be leather strips approx 2.5" wide by 24" long with hanging hardware. Some of the best and most effective strops I own have been given an extremely uniform light nap, a silky velvet finish. I wouldn't call it suede since we're talking about a very very light nap (hence the velvet reference). Pumice stone would be too rough and would not yield a uniform finish. Since the strop polishes a very delicate razor edge, I need a very flat very uniform finish like I describe.

How is such a surface created on leather? I appreciate any suggestions you may give. Thank you.

Chris L

[Ian]

I'm guessing you're talking about a nubuck type finish. This is obtained by a very light sanding at the tannery. You might be able to duplicate it with very fine sandpaper. Just a guess.

[Chrisl]

I'm guessing you're talking about a nubuck type finish. This is obtained by a very light sanding at the tannery. You might be able to duplicate it with very fine sandpaper. Just a guess.

Thank you for your reply. I have plenty of corners that I can try sanding to see if it works. Do you have a suggestion on what grit sandpaper I would try?

Thank you.

[Chrisl]

Update on my progress. I took the advice to sand the leather surface of a strip of horsehide to get a nubuck type surface. It worked just beautifully. I sanded both the grain side and the flesh side with 400 grit sandpaper. And actually dropped down to 150 grit with no ill effects. The grain side is of course softer and silkier to the touch, but the flesh side has a perfect velvety nap to it. Just great. Thanks!

Chris L