Yes, leather works better for me. It's a little more stiff and I like that. I used to use a mouse pad backing on the bench or table, but I couldn't get the angle and follow-through I needed without contorting my arm and body. Now, I lift and hold one of the boards in my left hand and am able control angles of attack much better - both the sharpening board moves and the knife in my right hand.
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A convex edge for the college student.
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Yes, leather works better for me. It's a little more stiff and I like that. I used to use a mouse pad backing on the bench or table, but I couldn't get the angle and follow-through I needed without contorting my arm and body. Now, I lift and hold one of the boards in my left hand and am able control angles of attack much better - both the sharpening board moves and the knife in my right hand.
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Thanks StretchNM! I'll give that a try next 
I believe the best backing is MDF, or medium-density fiberboard. Wood will work, but it's more susceptible to humidity changes and is thus less stable. You can;t get that MDF wet though! My boards are about 11" x 2-1/2" x 1/2"or3/4". THis allows me to cut wet/dry paper into equal strips that cover the width of the board.
A good place to get leather is at Hobby Lobby or Michael's craft stores. I bought a bag of leather scraps for $5.99 at 'Lobby and there were enough large pieces to make most of my wet/dry strops.
For stropping with compounds, I use Tandy's vegetable tanned leather - at least 7-8oz weight or heavier. Now, I don;t know if it really makes a difference using that or the 'Lobby scraps, but most of the scraps are dyed and might be tanned differently, so I just decided I'd use fresh vege-tanned under the assumption it would be better. One thing - for your compound strops, use leather that is smooth and without voids, bumps, or other imperfections. Even on the wet/dry strops, I think it pays to make sure the leather used is smooth and uniform.
You can glue the leather to wood using virtually any glue - contact cement, epoxy(nah...too expensive), yellow aliphatic resin (woodworking glue), liquid hide, or regular old white glue. If you use glues other than contact cement, you'll need to clamp them between cauls for an hour or so.
Good luck!
A good place to get leather is at Hobby Lobby or Michael's craft stores. I bought a bag of leather scraps for $5.99 at 'Lobby and there were enough large pieces to make most of my wet/dry strops.
For stropping with compounds, I use Tandy's vegetable tanned leather - at least 7-8oz weight or heavier. Now, I don;t know if it really makes a difference using that or the 'Lobby scraps, but most of the scraps are dyed and might be tanned differently, so I just decided I'd use fresh vege-tanned under the assumption it would be better. One thing - for your compound strops, use leather that is smooth and without voids, bumps, or other imperfections. Even on the wet/dry strops, I think it pays to make sure the leather used is smooth and uniform.
You can glue the leather to wood using virtually any glue - contact cement, epoxy(nah...too expensive), yellow aliphatic resin (woodworking glue), liquid hide, or regular old white glue. If you use glues other than contact cement, you'll need to clamp them between cauls for an hour or so.
Good luck!
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Thanks again, great info stretch, this thread is subscribed for future ref