Best premade leather strops?

[baliflipper02]

I've seen a few people make their own strops, but i don't want the hassle, so can anyone recommend a good leather strop for no more than 20 bucks? i would like it to be one that hangs off the wall kinda like cutlerylover. links are welcome. thanks in advance!

 

[jfk1110]

Have a look at stropman. Great quality items. My knives have never been as sharp and my extremities so hair free. Excellent customer service. Good luck

 

[Rappy]

Have a look at stropman. Great quality items. My knives have never been as sharp and my extremities so hair free. Excellent customer service. Good luck

1+

I've been using mine for several months now and never lets me down

 

[awestib]

The smooth side one (not the flesh side) of this strop: http://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/8-Leather-Bench-Strop-P263.aspx
I have been using it for quite some time now and I really like it. Hard and thin leather. Since it is smooth, I use CBN emulsion on it. It is cheap and well enough done.

 

[B34NS]

Not so much in the $20 range, at that point I just made one out of a piece of wickett craig 8oz, but for premade a friend of mine makes them by hand here in SF.

http://towncutler.com/collections/sharpening-supplies/products/leather-strop

In the $20 range I'd look into Diamond Suspension .5 micron paste or spray version for DIY. Since then I've treated all sorts of leather, my belt, scrap pieces of leather for field strops.

 

[collim1]

Stropman strops are great if you insist on Premade. However, I can make a perfectly functional strop for literally pennies with some scrap leather and a $3 stick of sharpening compound.

 

[Ericz4253]

Another +1 for Stropman. And I use the strop block from knives plus. $24 shipped and comes preloaded.
http://www.knivesplus.com/cgi-knive...=*181e40840a5fc5174878a88250d5&function=show#

 

[awestib]

I must say that I do not like to use the flesh side (that is the side the Stropman strop uses), I found that rounding is pronounced and the accuracy is often reduced. Often it seems to me that the flesh side is only being used to be able to apply compound easier. Even the feel is different going into one direction as opposed to the other direction.

As far as the Knivesplus strop, I have never tried it but u are certainly stuck with one compound (grit size, abrasive quality) and one compound only. However it seems to get constant great reviews but maybe not so good if u want to experiment with different compounds/sprays/emulsions etc.

 

[fmendez]

The easiest thing to make is a strop. Look for stichawl suggestions and one can make a specific strop for little money and what you save can be spend on compounds

 

[fsatsil]

Check out the Flexcut PW14 it's an 8x2in strop and a chunk of compound for u under $15.

 

[stitchawl]

Perhaps one of the reasons the pre-made strops being offered by a strop company get such rave reviews is that the people who buy them have never used a really good strop to judge them against? Stropping with almost ANYTHING is going to give results above and beyond what the stone leaves, and make people believe that it's the magic of the particular strop rather than the simple stropping action itself.

A company that spends more time advertising the quality, time and energy spent making its wooden bases rather than the time and energy spent processing the leather part of the strop gives me cause to wonder... If you want a pre-made strop, take a look at strops offered by old, established shaving equipment companies. Their adverts talk about the leather used, not the pretty bases. But be prepared to spend some bucks...

On the other hand, for just a few dollars and an hour's time, you can make the world's best leather strop. It's not rocket science. It's just compressing vegetable tanned leather, and you can do it with a rolling pin. The more you compress it, the better it becomes. How good do you want your strop to be?


Stitchawl

 

[awestib]

On the other hand, for just a few dollars and an hour's time, you can make the world's best leather strop. It's not rocket science. It's just compressing vegetable tanned leather, and you can do it with a rolling pin. The more you compress it, the better it becomes. How good do you want your strop to be? Stitchawl

Totally agree and I have done it and posted it before following your recommendations Stitchawl with outstanding success. Compared to that very home made strop of mine, the one I recommended above for purchase comes very close to mine, at least the one with the smooth side! That's why I recommended it.

 

[jkulysses]

Another vote here for Stropman Strops. I use the green and white compound and my blades have never been sharper.