Help me make a Strop

[Night Rider]

While cleaning my shop at work I came across and old roll of belt replacement leather and came up with the idea of making some strops. I've perfected my sharpening skills with diamond stones and lapping films IMO and now I would like to start working on stropping skills. I'm very much a total noob when it comes to stropping (never tried it) so be honest and let me know if i'm wasting my time on this weekend project. Here's what I found, A roll of leather 2'' X 10' that is painted on one side and raw on the other.

Both sides are bonded to a stiff plastic core.

Close up of the raw side.

And this is the painted side I planned on glueing to a piece of hardwood flooring.

The texture on the raw side is that of a very tight suede that I can't even put a fingernail dent in. Now opinions please, Would this work as a Strop? or am I wasting my time. If it's good to go then how long should make the strop and should I bother on glueing it to a board at all or set it up like a Barber's strop? Also would the compounds from the local hardware store work well or would I be better off ordering some compound online?

 

[Eli Chaps]

I admire you. I've been working on my sharpening skills for about forty years and have yet to perfect them.

What are you stropping? For steels with lower vanadium content the rough side will be fine. Some use that plain/raw and prefer smooth for compounds but you can put compounds on the rough side as well. Probably could Gorilla glue the strip to a piece of 2x2 or whatever and be good.

For steels with higher vanadium content (S30V, S90V, etc.) I think you'll prefer smooth leather and diamond/CBN sprays or pastes.

You can literally strop on cardboard. For the most part, you don't want too much give in the leather as that will promote edge rounding and convexity. Unless you want those things, then you know...

I wouldn't strop on the painted side.

 

[Night Rider]

I admire you. I've been working on my sharpening skills for about forty years and have yet to perfect them.

What are you stropping? For steels with lower vanadium content the rough side will be fine. Some use that plain and prefer smooth for compounds but you can put what compounds on the rough side as well. Probably could gorilla glue the strip to a piece of 2x2 or whatever and be good.

For steels with higher vanadium content (S30V, S90V, etc.) I think you'll prefer smooth leather and diamond/CBN sprays or pastes.

You can literally strop on cardboard. For the most part, you don't want too much give in the leather as that will promote edge rounding and convexity. Unless you want those things, then you know...

I wouldn't strop on the painted side.

I guess (Perfecteted) was the wrong word to use LOL so let's just say Improved my skills. I would be sharpening 8Cr13Mov, VG-10, S30V, S35VN, and CPM20VC. I was thinking of using a Diamond spray but I the raw side would absorb it to quickly and the compound would get lost in the pores.

 

[Eli Chaps]

I guess (Perfecteted) was the wrong word to use LOL so let's just say Improved my skills. I would be sharpening 8Cr13Mov, VG-10, S30V, S35VN, and CPM20VC. I was thinking of using a Diamond spray but I the raw side would absorb it to quickly and the compound would get lost in the pores.

Yes, I think you'd be better off putting the diamond spray on smooth leather.

 

[Wiz198]

Make a handle out of a piece of oak or maple scrap or pick one up at Lowe’s/hd. Leave the wood a bit wider than the leather. Take a knife cut some diamonds in the wood and the leather side your glueing. Put some wood glue on both, clamp overnight, sand and either use the smooth side or take some sand paper and prep the leather for a compound of your choice. Stain/poly if you like and you have yourself a great Strop.

 

[Night Rider]

Yes, I think you'd be better off putting the diamond spray on smooth leather.

That's what I thought, Thanks.

Make a handle out of a piece of oak or maple scrap or pick one up at Lowe’s/hd. Leave the wood a bit wider than the leather. Take a knife cut some diamonds in the wood and the leather side your glueing. Put some wood glue on both, clamp overnight, sand and either use the smooth side or take some sand paper and prep the leather for a compound of your choice. Stain/poly if you like and you have yourself a great Strop.

Thanks for the pic of the handle shape and the tips on prepping the leather before glueing . I'll give it a try tomorrow then post a pic of the finished project

 

[Eli Chaps]

Looking forward to what you come up with.

 

[Night Rider]

Make a handle out of a piece of oak or maple scrap or pick one up at Lowe’s/hd. Leave the wood a bit wider than the leather. Take a knife cut some diamonds in the wood and the leather side your glueing. Put some wood glue on both, clamp overnight, sand and either use the smooth side or take some sand paper and prep the leather for a compound of your choice. Stain/poly if you like and you have yourself a great Strop.

I took your construction advice and put in about three hours of work 2 of which were waiting for the Gorilla Glue to dry and this is what I came up with. I cut some grooves in the leather and board so the glue would bond.

Then I placed it in an old press I had lying around.

Stuck some feet on it for tracktion.

And here is the final product.

And here it is prepared with mineral oil and some crappy compound I got at the hardware store.

I grabbed a beater work knife that was paper tearing dull and gave it about ten passes on ether side and to my delight it came out hair shaving sharp.

I'm going to make up a couple more after I read up on compounds and diamond sprays so I can designate them to certain gritts. Any suggestions on sprays or compounds would be appreciated and thanks for the input guys, It's been a fun learning experience and I have a long way to go but I'm in the right place for that .

 

[Rhinoknives1]

I took your construction advice and put in about three hours of work 2 of which were waiting for the Gorilla Glue to dry and this is what I came up with. I cut some grooves in the leather and board so the glue would bond.

Then I placed it in an old press I had lying around.

Stuck some feet on it for tracktion.

And here is the final product.

And here it is prepared with mineral oil and some crappy compound I got at the hardware store.

I grabbed a beater work knife that was paper tearing dull and gave it about ten passes on ether side and to my delight it came out hair shaving sharp.

I'm going to make up a couple more after I read up on compounds and diamond sprays so I can designate them to certain gritts. Any suggestions on sprays or compounds would be appreciated and thanks for the input guys, It's been a fun learning experience and I have a long way to go but I'm in the right place for that .

I just use Green Crome buffing compound and after sharpening on a 30 Micron belt, I Strop with Green Crome on a leather belt, etc, while a “shaving sharp edge” seems to be the bench mark for many these days. Let me give you some food for thought , if I may..... Shaving is a push cut! Knives are primarily a draw cut! Stay safe & have fun!

 

[Eli Chaps]

Good for you dude!

 

[Night Rider]

I just use Green Crome buffing compound and after sharpening on a 30 Micron belt, I Strop with Green Crome on a leather belt, etc, while a “shaving sharp edge” seems to be the bench mark for many these days. Let me give you some food for thought , if I may..... Shaving is a push cut! Knives are primarily a draw cut! Stay safe & have fun!

Thanks for the advice on compound Rhinoknives1, I'm gonna clean up my workbench, poor a beer and go online to and order up some green compound.

Good for you dude!

Thanks for the encouragement Eli Chaps This place is full of fine people

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

...some crappy compound I got at the hardware store.

If that 'crappy compound' is what I think it is*, the white rouge in that kit is pretty good stuff, actually.

( * Looks very suspiciously like Ryobi packaging, to me...)

Nice work. And a cool press you've got there too.

 

[Night Rider]

If that 'crappy compound' is what I think it is*, the white rouge in that kit is pretty good stuff, actually.

( * Looks very suspiciously like Ryobi packaging, to me...)

Nice work. And a cool press you've got there too.

That's a good eye you have their Obsessed, It is a Ryobi kit. I wasn't sure which one to try so I picked the compound in the middle. I was going to start with the course dark compound but I went with the lighter color to make sure I was actually removing metal. I'm going to make up a couple more strops so I can experiment with the white compound next so I can try for a better finnish. Thanks on the press, my grandfather picked it up at a flea market for $10 bucks so I could press plants and flowers for a Boy Scout project. BTW do they still call them Boy Scouts?

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

That's a good eye you have their Obsessed, It is a Ryobi kit. I wasn't sure which one to try so I picked the compound in the middle. I was going to start with the course dark compound but I went with the lighter color to make sure I was actually removing metal. I'm going to make up a couple more strops so I can experiment with the white compound next so I can try for a better finnish. Thanks on the press, my grandfather picked it up at a flea market for $10 bucks so I could press plants and flowers for a Boy Scout project. BTW do they still call them Boy Scouts?

These stick compounds work real well on denim, canvas or linen too, if you ever decide to make another strop with that. Fabrics take & hold a very dense layer of the compound, which makes such a strop a very aggressive, fast polisher. Ryobi used to have their compounds in a larger stick form, and I originally tried the white rouge with one of those, on denim. I haven't tried that yellow compound yet, but I've also got the same Ryobi kit you pictured. I'll need to take another look at it.