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Does anyone want to buy leather to make strops?

A month or two ago I found a site to buy full hides of leather. I have bought leather in pieces by my measurments (3"x36" for example) from another site. This site (hardtkeinc.com) has hides of kangaroo. Kangaroo is the best, most amazing stropping leather I've experienced. I bought a 3x8" roo mounted on glass strop for $40 a while back. If you want a really refined, smooth edge of razor crisp (literally) sharpness I have seen nothing to beat the kangaroo. It is THIN THIN and VERY VERY smooth. A full hide of roo would be about $100. I've asked for a price and hope to get one tomorrow. They sent me some samples of different color but for strops the natural is recommended. The other colors would be for jackets, belts or whatever. Kangaroo is supposed to be really strong hide. I've never felt it before it was mounted on glass or something. I have two small roo strops (2x6") for the EP.

They also sent me a sample of Mexican shoulder (cow) big enough for me to make a 2x6" strop. This leather is thick but VERY hard for the thickness. I have it mounted on a piece of wood and I really like this stuff. I think this is about half the price of the kangaroo. Hope to get the price tomorrow.

Anyway, I would love to get some leather in bulk like this but have no need for entire hides. So I thought I'd see if anyone else would want enough of either of these hides to make a strop or two or three for themselves. Or if anyone wants an entire hide they can get one. I could buy a hide, get money from anyone interested and ship them their leather. The money split would be accurate for the share of leather and shipping. Or, someone else could get the hide and ship me my piece if anyone wanted to do it that way. I'm really thinking about the roo. The shoulder won't be as expensive and I have thought of making a few strops and selling them on ebay. I may end up doing that anyway. That would be later though.

If anyone is interested in something like this reply. If a thread like this violates any forum rule just delete it and let me know.

Jack

2 members like this

Replies to This Discussion

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by Terry Ray on February 17, 2014 at 19:16

I didnt know that about Kangaroo hide, but I LIKE it .... Kangaroo is good eating too , if you cook it right

FeaturedPermalink Reply by Jeremy B. Buchanan on February 17, 2014 at 19:29

Jack - I may be interested.

Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on February 17, 2014 at 19:30

Well sure Jack if the price is not too bad, wouldn't mind a try at some or a small piece.

Permalink Reply by Jack Haskins, Jr. on February 17, 2014 at 22:45

I will find out more tomorrow. I'll explain to them what I'll be using the kangaroo for and how important it is for it to be free of blemishes. I'm thinking the hides come in different condition. A kangaroo may have gotten lots of scratches leaving scars during his life or no telling what. The roo strop I have now is mounted on glass but the hide is 1mm thick or maybe a tiny bit less. It is 3x8" of perfect hide. This is not a lot to expect when paying what I did. I don't see them sold anywhere else so I can't compare prices but based on it's performance I think it is worth the extra money compared to strops of cow or horse. But, most people don't think the super refined edge is worth more money than a less expensive strop (or stones for that matter) can produce. It's just a matter of what different people want. But, if/when I get some I'll take the best pictures I can. I'll also take a picture of the strop I have now for comparison. You don't mind a bullet hole in the middle of your strops do you? lol

I'll get more details. Personally, I'm in no real big hurry because of start of the year expenses I have so I may need to wait a month or two. Depending on the prices I get tomorrow (I hope) I'm pretty sure I'll get some of the shoulder soon. They sell it priced by the sq ft and the shoulder (cow) is about half the price of the roo but the hides may be a lot bigger. We'll see.

Jack

Ivars said:

Jack! I would be interested in large piece of kangaroo but I would like to see that leather in some good photo maybe even macro photo how does it looks and what is the thickness of it?!

Best regards,
Ivars

Permalink Reply by Jack Haskins, Jr. on February 18, 2014 at 16:04

Here is the reply I got about the kangaroo and shoulder leather. I called and Cindy said it's hard to tell exactly what kind of shape each hide would be in but they aren't all beat up and stuff. When they sell hides they know they need to be in pretty good shape for their customers. But, each 7 sq ft of roo hide won't be entirely perfect. Personally, I'd like a couple of 3.5"x10 inch strops. Two strops of roo that size purchased where I got the one I have now would be about $100 so if I could get 10 or 12 pieces that big or more I'd be really happy. I'd just need to buy glass which isn't expensive, cut it and glue the roo to them. Yee haw, strops. :)

HERE IS HER REPLY:
Please note that a hide of the drum stuffed kangaroo could be about $91.00 and the shipping through Fed Ex Ground could be an approximate $12.00. This would give you a total of approximately $103.00 for the skin and the shipping. Please keep in mind that this is if it were a skin of about 7 square feet.

For the Mexican Shoulder it would approximately be $67.50 for a 15 square feet skin and the shipping would probably be around $15.00 to $20.00 depending on the weight.

Please note that we do not charge anything for the shipping. The cost of shipping is directly from Fed Ex.

If you should have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Cindy Hernandez Charles L. Hardtke, Inc. (915) 590-0088

Permalink Reply by Jack Haskins, Jr. on February 18, 2014 at 16:33

If anyone would rather me get extra glass and put your leather or roo on the glass and then ship it to you I could do that. The glass wouldn't be cut and beveled pretty or anything but I'd get all the sharp edges off. I'd just need money for the glass and with the added weight of the glass the shipping will be higher than the leather alone. If we do this either way is ok with me. I'm hoping to get some $40 or $50 (ballpark) strops for $10 or less each. I'm hoping anyone else interested can do similar.

Permalink Reply by Steve Scheuerman (Manx) on February 18, 2014 at 16:53

I might be interested in grabbing a fair sized chunk of each. Depends on how much the Edger Pro strop plates cost.

Permalink Reply by Jack Haskins, Jr. on February 18, 2014 at 17:00

The blanks are $5 each from edgeproinc.com. But I buy the aluminum bars at Lowe's and cut my own. One 3' bar, which will make 5 blanks, is under $10. I use a Dremel to cut them but a hacksaw and file works too if you don't have a Dremel or something like that. The aluminum bars are soft enough. For larger knives 2" wide strops are nice. They have the bars in 1" and 2" widths at the Lowe's near me.

Steve Scheuerman (Manx) said:

I might be interested in grabbing a fair sized chunk of each. Depends on how much the Edger Pro strop plates cost.

Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on February 19, 2014 at 19:44

I like that.

Jack Haskins, Jr. said:

If anyone would rather me get extra glass and put your leather or roo on the glass and then ship it to you I could do that. The glass wouldn't be cut and beveled pretty or anything but I'd get all the sharp edges off. I'd just need money for the glass and with the added weight of the glass the shipping will be higher than the leather alone. If we do this either way is ok with me. I'm hoping to get some $40 or $50 (ballpark) strops for $10 or less each. I'm hoping anyone else interested can do similar.

Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on February 24, 2014 at 19:04

Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on February 24, 2014 at 19:05

Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on February 24, 2014 at 19:08

OK I have some leather!! It does say it's got a .25 Micron spray on it and the it is mounted on a magnetic strip. So I just need some metal that will secure it and lock it into my holders.