An easy effective strop(Did I invent it?)

[boyntonbob]

I have never seen this idea before, but it works. Take a cardboard tube from inside a roll of Reynolds Wrap. Smear a JUST transparent layer of Mothers Mag and Aluminum polish on it and let it dry. Strop. This is great as a fine polishing strop, but doesn't sharpen, like a leather strop with Bark River black compound would.

It Also easily strops hawkbill, recurved, etc. blades.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

You can use cardboard as a strop material in a number of ways. Generally thin corrugated single-wall cardboard is best since it has less severe of a cushion effect as thick corrugated does.

 

[David Martin]

Welcome bob. Gents have been stropping on cardboard and posting about it for years on this Forum. At least I know Heavy Hand has written about it numerous times on here. So, it is well known. DM

 

[jpm2]

I rarely strop, but when I do, it's with thin cereal box cardboard (non corrugated) either on top of a diamond plate, or 1/16" rubber mat.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Stropping on cardboard was an educational eye-opener for me. It made me realize, for the first time, just how much the substrate affects results, and not just the compound itself. Also made me realize that the simplest and cheapest of materials can work well, and one doesn't need to spend a lot on fancier strops, if anything at all. Subtle differences in the cardboard itself, and how they 'play' with a particular compound, can make big differences in results. And some steels seem to respond well to it, while others may not. With cardboard over a hard backing (usually wood), I've noticed pretty good results in stropping middle-of-the-road stainless steels like VG-10, 420HC that can be tenaciously burr-prone. White rouge and similar aluminum oxide compounds seem to be a good fit for it. I've used the inside face of Kleenex boxes and cracker boxes to good effect with these compounds in particular. Didn't pick those for any particular functional advantage; it's just that they were conveniently handy in my house.

The main thing to look for, in any stropping substrate, is something that compresses as minimally as possible, and also holds the compound well. Meet those two criteria first, and it becomes much easier to make a strop perform pretty well, if not even excellently.


David

 

[spyken]

Emerson used to advocate stropping on a legal pad (cardboard backing), Murray carter on newsprint.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

Stropping on cardboard was an educational eye-opener for me. It made me realize, for the first time, just how much the substrate affects results, and not just the compound itself. Also made me realize that the simplest and cheapest of materials can work well, and one doesn't need to spend a lot on fancier strops, if anything at all. Subtle differences in the cardboard itself, and how they 'play' with a particular compound, can make big differences in results. And some steels seem to respond well to it, while others may not. With cardboard over a hard backing (usually wood), I've noticed pretty good results in stropping middle-of-the-road stainless steels like VG-10, 420HC that can be tenaciously burr-prone. White rouge and similar aluminum oxide compounds seem to be a good fit for it. I've used the inside face of Kleenex boxes and cracker boxes to good effect with these compounds in particular. Didn't pick those for any particular functional advantage; it's just that they were conveniently handy in my house.

The main thing to look for, in any stropping substrate, is something that compresses as minimally as possible, and also holds the compound well. Meet those two criteria first, and it becomes much easier to make a strop perform pretty well, if not even excellently.


David

Yup! And the more the material deforms under pressure, the lower you have to hold the angle and the lighter pressure you need to use in order to maintain the same angle you put on the blade with a stone. The paperboard that cereal boxes are made of tends to be pretty decent as strop material.