Help Making a Leather Strop

G

G11354

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Aug 26, 2020
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When making a leather strop, how critical is it whether you use the smooth or coarse side of the leather as the stropping surface?
 
For wax based compounds ie a typically green compound the rough side is preferable as it will flake off the smooth side. The smooth side is fine for diamond compounds
 
You CAN use both, but that being said you’ll get best results using smooth side. I have one with a more coarse paste on the back ( rough side) to get rid of fine scratches and such. I admit I use it very seldom though. My stones allow me to get the same results much faster. So I now have strops with 3, 1.5 micron and a plain kangaroo leather for the final strop
 
I'll split the difference! I use the smooth side of Veg Tan leather, after I glue it to a flat paddle I sand it lightly with 120 grit, did I mention lightly sanded. The reason I sand it is that I use Al Oxide powder and need some texture to hold it but not as much texture as on the flesh side.
 
Please do not neglect to "case" the leather first. It is amazing that many "professional" strop makers neglect this step.
Read on it, it makes a difference.
 
I case leather to soften and dampen it for carving, stamping, thinning and skiving, all done while the leather is damp, but I fail to see the benefit in making a paddle strop. Do you have a reference?
 
No, you can research it yourself. exposes silicates and compresses leather. I am too old to be providing links for leather experts.
At home I use a commercial rolling pin, it is a bit of work.
Believe it or not...
leatherworker.net might be a place to start.
Many strops out there are junk, a little research and you can find a proper one, or make your own.
 
I've been making my strops for as long as I've been in leather working, they work just fine thank you.

Edited to add that I went to the leatherworker site, I'm a member there, and found nothing, however I didn't waste time reading every strop post. If it's a topic there it's pretty insignificant. Also let me add that I use powdered oxide as a compound and any influence from silica in the leather would be totally swamped by the oxide. I'd rather get on with sharpening than soaking, drying and flattening leather to glue on a strop paddle.
 
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Casing is essentially moot if the strop will be used with compound. So long as the leather is relatively firm, cased or not, using it with compound will work equally well. In fact, when used with compound, the strop material itself (leather, fabric, paper, cardboard, wood, etc) isn't that important at all. Materials which hold an even application of compound will do better. But by the same token, many materials like leather or wood can be sanded or otherwise altered or retextured on the surface to accept and hold compound better than they otherwise might.

Some leather tanning processes include added silicates in the process. For such leathers, the 'casing' process might work well to concentrate those added silicates nearer to the surface of the leather. For BARE leather stropping in those examples, a cased leather strop might work better overall. But again, putting a layer of compound over the surface of such leather will render the silicates essentially moot, in terms of their effect on the blade steel as compared to the effect of the compound itself.

It's not a given that all run-of-the-mill tanned cowhide will be processed or tanned in the same manner. So, some tanned leathers may not respond as expected to casing, if those extra silicates aren't there to begin with.
 
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I use generic quality to Herman Oak Veg Tan leather depending on the project. There might be some trace amount of silica native to the leather as well as some imparted through the vegetable tanning process, I have no idea how the average user or vendor could judge or estimate that amount. I also have to think the size of the silica particles inherent in the leather would be too small to be very effective in honing a knife blade, assuming we're talking about sharpening knives and not polishing straight razors. I'm also not sure how well, or even if, casing will be that effective in raising the silica to the surface.

I believe it is far better to apply a compound with known properties rather than trust some hunch about silica in the leather.
 
Far from a hunch, not gonna argue with Dave, but compressing the leather makes a difference in the finished product.
I gave up on sharpening threads awhile back because of the newbs giving newbs bad info.
Preach on Squidward, hopefully you do more good than harm in your time here.
Many of my low alloy kitchen tools really benefit from bare leather, but we all have different definitions of "sharp"...
 
I recently made a strop using 3-4 veg tan, did nothing other than glue it to 3/4" plywood and scuffed the smooth side with some 120 grit. I would have to press much, much harder than I normally strop to get enough compression to round an apex. I learned long ago to strop at a slightly lower angle than the bevel when using a thick or soft strop, the strop will conform to the blade just enough to produce a fine edge. Really this stuff isn't mystical it just requires some awareness of what's happening at the blade edge, comes with practice not YouTube, books or blogs.
 
Attaching a compressible material against a hard backing, like a paddle of wood, naturally invites compression into the many variables affecting the results. An easy way to render the compressibility of leather essentially moot is to use it as a hanging strop. Nice thing about stropping that way is it's very very, difficult to exert enough pressure to compress it, as the strop will naturally deflect away from the blade if much pressure is exerted. It forces a light, skimming contact, lest one lose control of the strop. All of the stropping I do with leather, anymore, is done this way (I use a leather belt). Use a comfortable, light hold at the free end of the hanging strop, just enough to keep it reasonably taut (not slack) without it slipping from your hold. If the strop is trying to pull from your relaxed grip while you're stropping, you're exerting too much pressure with the blade.

As with the variability in tanning processes used for leather, there's also a lot of variability in how well a given piece of average leather responds to DIY casing, in terms of firming it up. I tried the casing process a while back, with a piece of veg-tanned cowhide bought from Tandy leather. Also tried it with a very old leather belt (1950s vintage) my Dad had given me. In both of those examples, the firmness of the leather didn't change noticeably at all.

With DIY methods utilizing a rolling pin, 'elbow grease' and some 'grunt', I could understand how the casing results might be disappointing, oftentimes. On the other hand, in an industrial setting with tools or machines capable of exerting TONS of pressure via rollers, I could also understand the results might be better. The more I think about these things this way, the more I understand why some expensive barbers' strops with known excellent reputation might be worth the money spent. Put another way, (#1) leather of known good quality, + (#2) a specific tanning process utilizing silicates, + (#3) heavy-duty rolling, compression and/or 'casing' and other surface finishing = good or excellent results. I would hope so, at least.
 
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I prefer a solid flat piece of wood rather than the plastic box lid and I prefer an abrasive powder for faster, more consistent honing but the concept is correct; keep it simple and keep it inexpensive.
 
Stitchawl wrote a tutorial on this subject.A definitive one.You should be able to find it with search function.
 
I can tell you that after many decades of "been there, done that's" I've acquired a fair amount of scar tissue when it comes to how things should be done. The most important thing I've learned about any process, sharpening and stropping included, is to keep it as simple and straightforward as possible. I sharpen on bench stones and trust experience and muscle memory for sharpening and stropping. My strops are rigid, flat paddles with thin, hard leather flesh side out or smooth side and my compound is powder; flesh side for final sharpening and smooth for honing.
 
A nice 2X18 piece of Horse butt-hide attached to a piece of oak makes a good all around strop.

And 3 micron CBN is a good all around compound.

If you want to go a bit more advanced, get a 2X2 piece of oak and glue the horse hide to 3 sides, then treat with 6 micron, 3 micron and 1 micron cbn.
 
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