I made this from a long piece cherry offcut that I've had sitting around for ages. Here's a better picture of the interesting bit:
https://i.imgur.com/LV0ep0a.jpeg
I'm honestly not thrilled with the finish. I thought I'd sanded out all the little 'scales' the planer leaves, but many came back when I put the oil on.
Good call. I have some old suede slippers sitting around that I was going to use for strops - but if there's enough material I could use them for this. The bass I made it for contacts the spine at its metal neckplate, so that doesn't need cushioning, but the body does.