Hand American Strops

P

pogo

Joined
Jun 8, 2005
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686
Anyone use these strops? If so how do you like it? Whats size did you get? What type of paste is good? As you can see I have many Q's but, have only used a plain leather belt in the past. The results were ok but, not fantastic so, I assume the paste makes a difference? Thanks!:confused:
 
They work great. I just got some of their leather and made my own paddle strops with some wood and contact cement. I also would recommend their CrO2 paste. I use this and mix diamond paste with it, and have strops loaded with 10 micron to .5 micron abrasives. I got the plain and treated leather both and can't say I prefer one over the other... I did not try the scored, stamped leather they have available.

The only thing I'd do differently is I would get some of the thinner leather for some strops. I would like some strops with a bit less "give". I may still do this sometime.

broos
 
pogo said:
Anyone use these strops? If so how do you like it? Whats size did you get? What type of paste is good? As you can see I have many Q's but, have only used a plain leather belt in the past. The results were ok but, not fantastic so, I assume the paste makes a difference? Thanks!:confused:
Click to expand...

I recently bought the 11x3 inch strop on a corian base. Very nice setup. I got 2 natural leather and 1 red conditioned leather strop along with the CrO. So far I've only stropped on the natural tan with CrO. They also shipped for free two of the new black leather strops that weren't shown on their web site (they may be now).

My results to date have been a little hit and miss. Generally I've gotten my knives sharper - but not always. I contribute this more to my technique (or lack thereof) than the strop. I found their web site to be a little confusing so I called and the fellow there was very helpful.
 
I have one from a couple of years ago, it works great. The new ones seem even nicer but I'll be keeping my older one - it's still got a lot of life left in it. Since I've been using it I can go longer between sharpenings by just touching it up on the strop regularly.

I use the CrO powder that came with it and it works great. The other side has the treated maroon leather which I use for the last couple of strokes. Making your own strop would still be effective and very inexpensive, but you get a great strop for a great price from HandAmerican.
 
I recently traded my thick , shoe repair place, leather strop for a thin,hard,HandAmerican one.

The increase in sharpness I was able to get was fantastic. The new leather did not give and I feel that this helped in not rounding the edges. Yes...I have always been guilty of pressing too hard...
A very worthwhile purchase.
 
This is my "Executive" sharpening system - leather is from "Hand American Made" - which is best: hard, clean etc... I glue it to the ebony (epoxy, but relly thin layer otherwise it will penetrate leather) and have this super exclusive custom made things. On one I put 6 micron diamond spray on one and 1 micron on another.

sharpening-04.jpg


I sharpen everything with Diamond EzeLap and this things. Key for me is to relly sharpen it 20-30 times not just strop 1 or 2. And it should be 1 strop one side 1 strop another.

sharpening-02.jpg


Thanks, Vasili.

P.S. This is Sprays:

stones-06.jpg
 
Out of curiosity, where do you actually get strops from? I've been interested in adding stropping to my sharpening routine, and this looks like a nice place to start, but doesn't do me much good if I have no idea where to get one from.
 
kamagong said:
Interesting knife Vasili. Is that the AG Russell Japanese Hunting Knife?
Click to expand...
Yeah, that caught my eye too. It definitely looks like the one AGR sells. Vasili - could you post a review of it for us, with your usual great pics?
 
I got my leatear "plates" from local carpenter shop "WoodWork" called - leather for hone.

kamagong said:
www.handamerican.com

Interesting knife Vasili. Is that the AG Russell Japanese Hunting Knife?
Click to expand...

This is Kenetsune Matagi Hunter and different dealers selling it including A.G.Russel. I get it from http://www.discountcutlery.net
but you may just search the web and find several different places.

I already post some pics before. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=374788&highlight=Kanetsune

Thanks, Vassili.
 
I just got my strop from Hand American. The owner was really helpful and sent me a couple pieces of cut off leather to practice on. I tried my Endura on one of the pieces of cutoff leather and it definately made it sharper, so I hope to see some pretty good results once I practice and use the actual corian base and new leather. At first I planned on making my own, but the whole set up was really reasonably priced, and the owner was so willing to take time to help me, that I feel very happy with the purchase.
 
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