Breaking In thick cowhide

[Chrisl]

I'm new to this excellent forum and have done some searching for information on how (if possible) to break in heavier weight veg tanned cowhide; I couldn't find anything definitive.

Here's what I'd like to accomplish: I'd like to take 2 1/2" x 24" strips of heavy veg tanned cowhide (the heavier/thicker the better) and somehow break them in so the strips are very pliable. I don't want to use some sort of oil as I'd like to keep the leather the un-oiled color and ultimately sand the surfaces to a nubuck finish. If I physically drew the strip towards me by pulling it across a smooth vertical metal post, over and over and over, would the strip eventually become very pliable? Without some sort of chemical conditioner or oil I would think the only way to make the fibers more relaxed would be tons of plain old hard work?

These strips would be used to make straight razor strops. The vintage razor strops in the hey day of straight razors 100+ years ago were often made of very thick (around 1/4") cowhide but were luxuriously pliable rather than stiff. Most of those were darker in color, so maybe some chemical method was used?

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

Chris L

[steveh]

Most of the old razor stop I have seen are about 4 to 6 oz leather. If you cut straps off a hide they be pliable enough already. You may want to case them a bit and take a slicker over the strap to compress the fibers a little.Lightly edge the edges as well. The color is achieved by age sunlight, and the carbon steel razors being stropped on the strap, with some rouge.

[IHL]

The real good old razor strops were made out of horsehide. They start off being stiff and over time they get darker and softer. the reason for using horsehide, it made the blade sharper as the horsehide was smoother.