Compound buildup on the strop - good, bad, a non-issue?

[Brew-Jitsu]

If the buildup from a stropping compound is uneven (clumpy, or gathering in different places), does this affect the effectiveness of the strop?

Is there any benefit to trying to remove some of it or apply it differently?

I'm using Woodcraft honing leather and Flexcut Gold compound. Thanks for any advice on this...

 

[OHALLUM]

I removed the excess on mine with duct tape, and it works much better. I was over applying the compound and it would not let the leather work. I don't think it hurt anything, it just worked much better when I thinned it out. Took less time to achieve the results I was after.

Omar

 

[Bigfattyt]

Nothing complex about it. If it is getting hard and bumpy, just rub it with a paper towel.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Nothing complex about it. If it is getting hard and bumpy, just rub it with a paper towel.

That usually works for me, too. :thumbup:

If it still seems a little uneven on the strop after the dry paper towel, moisten the paper towel with a little bit of WD-40. That helps to thin out the thicker areas, and makes it easier to re-distribute the compound, or even remove some of the excess (it will remove some, but that's OK).

Edit:
If the compound is so thick and/or excessive that you see it collecting on the blade as you strop, it probably will diminish stropping effectiveness. The compound which actually embeds into the leather is what works best, because the particles have that backing to hold onto while they 'scrub' the edge. All the thick stuff above that bottom layer doesn't have the leather 'bed' to hold onto, so it just gets 'pushed around' by the blade, and therefore won't work as effectively.

 

[stitchawl]

All the thick stuff above that bottom layer doesn't have the leather 'bed' to hold onto, so it just gets 'pushed around' by the blade, and therefore won't work as effectively.

But, gee whiz.... [Blatant Sarchasm to Follow. Disregard if offended] What about those great strops that come pre-loaded with so much compound that you never have to add any again.
[Sarchasm Mode: Off]

{Note: 'Sarchasm' is the gulf between the sarcasm that is said, and the person who doesn't get it. }


Stitchawl

 

[monk3yfist]

Sandpaper also works. A light sanding will take the thick layers if old compound off pretty quickly and make it almost as good as new. If you want to be really ocd (like me,) lexol makes a good leather cleaner. Follow it up with the conditioner and you've got yourself a clean shiny strop ready to get gummed up all over again. Good luck.

 

[stitchawl]

......Follow it up with the conditioner and you've got yourself a clean shiny strop ready to get gummed up all over again. Good luck.

Personally, I think that the use of a good leather conditioner is the key to a strop's longevity. My grandfather's strop must be close to 100 years old now, and still feels 'alive.' Of course, it's never had any compound on it. It's a bare Russian Leather barber strop that my Great-grandfather gave him for his 18th birthday. He passed it along to my father, and he passed it along to me. I'm the only one who doesn't use it for it's intended purpose; razor stropping. I wear a full beard and only shave my neck 2-3 times a week. But I do use it for the final touch up of several knives, so it get's used a few times a month. And I treat it with a good leather conditioner twice a year. Another few years it will be time to pass it on to my son. He's 37 and almost ready...

Sun-block for us. Leather conditioner for our strops. May we all live forever!


Stitchawl

 

[Tommythewho]

I wish someone would post a pic of a properly loaded strop. I was wondering if I was overloaded, after reading this I know I am/was

 

[omniviking]

I heated mine up woth a heat gun or lighter then rub in compound. My leather is an old belt. it will take a lot of compound and the belt looks more like an oiled piece of leather then something colored with a green crayon.

black compound seems kind of hard and dry but it seems like I don't really need black side of strop if I use a ceramic stick of some lind and then use green side.

 

[Brew-Jitsu]

A lot of good suggestions here. I was thinking of using a steel brush or sandpaper (to add some toothiness to the leather, too).

Thanks, everyone.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

I wish someone would post a pic of a properly loaded strop. I was wondering if I was overloaded, after reading this I know I am/was

This is an older pic of one of mine. I was using it to put the finishing touches on an older Buck 112, seen in the pic. It's actually more 'green' there, than it is now, not long after I'd initially made the first application of compound. I crayon'ed the compound onto the leather in sort of a cross-hatch pattern, then used a paper towel & WD-40 to more evenly distribute it. Prior to compound application, I had also sanded the leather with some medium grit sandpaper, to give the leather some velvety 'nap', which holds the compound very well. DON'T DO THIS with a barber strop, or Illinois/Russian Leather/horsehide strop, which are designed to be used without compound; sanding will ruin them. I was very pleased with how it worked out with my veg-tanned leather. I've given essentially the same treatment to two others like it, using other compounds. All of them have performed nicely. I don't know whether it's 'properly loaded' as you describe, but it has worked very well. I did make a larger, bench-sized version, and had used mineral oil warmed up in the microwave, mixed with some of the green compound, and applied like a 'paste', more or less. Much, much too heavy, as it turned out. So, I ended up scrubbing most of it off with a WD-40-moistened paper towel. I also haven't used that one much, and will probably re-surface it one of these days.

 

[stitchawl]

Folks seem to keep forgetting that stropping takes place on a microscopic level. It's measured in microns, not in millimeters.

Perhaps the best way to visualize the proper amount of compound needed would be to sprinkle a piece of leather with talcum powder, give it a quick smooth-over, then turn the leather upside down and tap it against something. Tap it several times, hard! What remains on the leather is all that is needed to get the job done. You can still see the leather, but it has a whitish cast to it.

Now imagine you're using CrO powder instead... (you can buy it at paint shops or artist supply stores) and do the same thing. Just sprinkle on, give a gentle rub, and tap off. NOW you have the proper amount of compound on the leather. REMEMBER... the stropping is going on at the micro level, not the level that you can see with the naked eye. You don't need a lot of compound. When stropping and using compound, less is better than more.


Stitchawl

 

[Tommythewho]

Thanks for the pic. Looks like what my strop needs the most is some use.