Choosing a Strop

S

schofer

Joined
Apr 15, 2006
Messages
20
OK, I've seen so many strop threads that I figure it's time to take the plunge and get one.

I do my main sharpening on a sharpmaker and/or DMT Aligner. I'm not obsessive about absolute maximum sharpness... I'm actually quite happy with my Sharpmaker... but I'm curious to try a strop due to all the rave reviews on this forum.

It seems like there are plenty of good options:

Knivesplus.com has one for ~$15+shipping... one-sided with green polishing compound.
http://www.knivesplus.com/KP-STROP8-STROPBLOCK.html

Bark River makes a double-sided strop for ~$20+shipping ($40 with green and black compounds).
http://www.knivesshipfree.com/p1760/Bark-River-Sharpening-Kit-Double-Sided-Hone-+-Compound/product_info.html

JRE Industries makes a 4-sided strop bat for $35+shipping ($50 with 3 bars of compound).
http://www.jreindustries.com/strops.htm

Any advice choosing between these?

Any others that I should consider?

Do 2 or 4 sides come in handy, or is one enough? (I'm not looking for perfection here...)

Is there any benefit from the expensive Bark River polishing compounds... or are the $3 bars from Sears just as good?

At first glance, the Bark River strop seems most appealing -- it is fairly compact but still has 2 sides for different compounds. The strop bats are cool but are kinda large and perhaps overkill for my needs.

What do you think?

schofer
 
Get an old leather belt from Salvation army, cut in lengths of about a foot each, glue the unfinished side down on a paint stirring stick, got mine free from Ace hardware, apply stropping compound to finished side. Start stropping.

Belt should be a plain one with no embellishments. Compounds can vary.
 
timsclips said:
Get an old leather belt from Salvation army, cut in lengths of about a foot each, glue the unfinished side down on a paint stirring stick, got mine free from Ace hardware, apply stropping compound to finished side. Start stropping.

Belt should be a plain one with no embellishments. Compounds can vary.
Click to expand...

I like this.... you probably get what you pay for...but i don't plan on doing surgery! :p
 
The small Sears bars are fine for all your needs unless you want to use a power buffer. For leather, choose those made from vegetable tanned cowhide, rather than a belt that is made from chrome tanned leather (that does work, but not as well as the tooling cowhide,) and if your are not stropping straight edged razors will want to have the leather mounted on something stiff. Two strops are fine for just about anything. Four will give you smaller degrees of finish but not necessarily a sharper finish. Green Chromium Oxide compound is 60,000 grit. Just about as fine as one can get except for a bare leather cowhide or horsehide strop.

As to which strops to buy... Let your wallet be your guide. Personally, for commercially made strops, the ones made by HandAmerican can't be beat. When I make them myself, I buy a 1ft square of vegetable tanned cowhide from Jantzs Knifemaker's Supply
http://jantzsupply.com/cartease/item-detail.cfm?ID=AG512 and make four 3"x12" strops by cutting the square and gluing it down on pieces of plywood. Four good strops for $10 isn't a bad price, and with compounds these will work just as well as any commercially made strops other than the expensive barber strops.

Stitchawl
 
Get the Bark River. Mike Stewart is a great guy who will help you any way he can.
 
I have been thinking about this question too an i'm thinking of getting the bark river. I dont mean to hijack the thread or anything, but will the green compound get a knife any sharper than the UF stones on a sharpmaker?
 
dtownknifekid said:
I have been thinking about this question too an i'm thinking of getting the bark river. I dont mean to hijack the thread or anything, but will the green compound get a knife any sharper than the UF stones on a sharpmaker?
Click to expand...


Yes, but move into the 21st century and use diamond paste.
 
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