Horse leather razor stroping!

S

spiraltwista

Joined
Nov 29, 2002
Messages
3,229
Hi!

I know some of you use straight razors or do other sharpening on strops so I would like to pick your brains!

Yesterday for $8 I got a lovly old Astra no.19 Genuine shell horse leather strop in great condition, One of my questians is its backing strap is very heady duty webbing, is this used in any stropping procedures or is it just for support?

I also have a Patent 1905 Damascus Razor hone bu U.J.Cutlery Co. New York,
That I think is black Arkansas stone {Under a lens I can see concohidial fracture in a small chip}& I am wondering which would be used in what order in the sharpening process?

Cheers,
Spiral
 
Sometimes strops are made with a heavy canvas type material on one side. If this is the case on yours then it can be used to strop, often used after the leather side. The black stone is used last as a general rule. It is used to really polish the edge of a blade. You wouldn't want to use it to reprofile a blade or if there was the need to remove a lot of meatl to repair a edge. You could I suppose it would just take a thousand years...well a long time anyway.
 
there is canvas stropping, Denim stropping, and may fave finisher--braon paper bag or cardboard stropping.

Keith
 
I would think that the canvas would be a preparation strop for the leather and that a hard hone would be used before any stropping. The leather strop with the chromium oxide at some 10,000 grit is the smoothest you're liable to get anything.
But remember you're talking a -Razor- strop. You could stop at most stroping with the canvas for general purpose knives.
 
Spir,
Ck.your Dark Stone should be 1/2 DARK & 1/2 LIGHT!Dark is for FINE FINISH HONING,"THEN" Strop! LIGHT is for quickly getting a dull edge into condition for FINAL FINISH HONING !! These can be used dry or with water or lather.
THE SAINT!:cool::
 
Cheers all, I like your concepts Yvsa, Ive Been playing with an old razor this evening & your ideas seem the way to go to me!
Still need to perfect my tecnique some more though!

Mr. Saintly! mmmmmmm interesting, The stone I have is all one colour it seems to be homogenous rock rather than a composite. The colour is a solid dark pencil lead grey/black. It feels as smooth as glass, so I presume it the final hone?

Keith, Cardboard & paper? is that for field use as only thing available or do you think its better than leather?

Mark, Cheers but if you are shaving straight from the hone stone, your a tougher man than I!{as you may well be}

Mind you if I used throwaways it takes 3 to get through a couple of days growth, {poor Dorothy};)

Spiral
 
Originally posted by Ferrous Wheel
there is canvas stropping, Denim stropping, and may fave finisher--braon paper bag or cardboard stropping.

Keith
Click to expand...

Keith, that is a post worthy of Bruise.
 
with Yvsa. I still remember going to the barber shop with my Grandfather when I was pretty young yet. I watched almost every move the Barber made with that razor. He was not a young man either. While Gramps was soaking under the hot towel, the barber touched up his razor. I can close my eyes and still see what he did. He had two stones on the counter behind the chair. A white and black just a couple of strokes on the white, a couple more on the black, Back and forth on the white canvas about a half dozen times and then he used the horse hide for the last dozen strokes. I know that blade was sharp because when gramps was done in that chair, that shave was very close.

?To a young pup like I was at the time, I thought that was just amazing. To get a blade sharp enough to cut that short stubble on the old mans face. I don't have the canvas strop so I use the black stone for a few more strokes and work out with the smooth side of a leather belt for the last stropping. The rough side I have jewlers rouge in and it will work prtty well but the smooth side is definately for the last work on the razor. Just what works for me.:)
 
Cheers all,
Pappy,Thats a cool story & seems to go whith trying it out, works for me!

Ill keep practising my sharpening & although this razor is a good one ,ill have to look for something special to shave with as I have the stone & strop both of which are beutifully made. ;) :D

Guess when I get it sussed with the razors I could do my user kukris as well normaly I just use diamond stones. :D

Spiral
 
Yep. Laugh if ye want, but take a look at these "big grain wood pulp" products under magnification. They are gritty, tough, and will dull most knives after repeated cutting. With that in mind, they will actually burnish and hone (or dull the edge of) a blade.

If you are stopping, you can use a piece of cardboard box, which (due to the corrugation) acts sorta like the sandpaper-mousepad combo. At leasdt until it breaks down. Apply your fave polishing paste to increase the effect.

You can also use brown paper bag to polish up a horn or wood handle.

Also, I have stropped blades that I've just sharpened on me own pant leg, thus the denim. I guess if I wanted it to go faster, I could jsut use dirtier jeans:)

To be honest, if yer frugal like me, jest about anything can be used to strop a blade.
 
Razor strops are designed to strop razors (duh). A razor is extremely thin (think of a tin can) and the edge needs very little material removed and is subject to damage. The canvas side of the strop is the "heavy duty" side and would normally be coated with a minimally abrassive white compound more like chalk than an abrassive. The leather side would be greased rather than covered with an abrassive compound.

Stropping knives is generally not a delicate process. I would put some green buffing compound (chromium oxide) on the canvas side and some red buffing compound (ferric oxide) on the leather side. This won't do much for sharpening but will take a sharp edge to a screaming sharp polished edge. I would use an abrassive compound on the canvas side if I wanted to sharpen with the strop with green buffing compound on the leather.
 
No Idea Seabee but it looks good! Definatly German & probably worth more than $12 to the right person!

Have you tried it out?

Spiral
 
I thought red compound was carborundum? Maybe not.

And black arkansas is about as fine a honing stone as you can get.
 
Originally posted by Tohatchi NM
I thought red compound was carborundum? Maybe not.
Click to expand...
Only red compound I know of is red iron oxide.

Red sandpaper is at least sometimes garnet, softer than corundum.

Garnet paper is "usually used for woodworking".

Although the Mohs hardness averages about 7,
http://www.suevematsu.com/garnet.html
which is harder than hardened steel (about 6),
but I suspect the garnet may break down (fracture) too rapidly
when used against a hard surface.

Hmmmmmm.
More info from :
http://www.consultants-mfg.com/abrasive.html

"CORUNDUM: MOHS 9. A natural abrasive found in the earth. With softer crystalline structure than Silicon Carbide or Aluminum Oxide. It breaks down readily and is important for lapping a great variety of medium hard metals (Rockwell C 35-45). It gives a medium polish or reflective finish.

GARNET: A natural abrasive mined from the earth MOHS 8 to 9, with a blocky crystalline structure that does not readily embed itself in lapped parts. Its greatest asset is that it may be safely used for lapping cast iron gears, brass or bronze running seals and instrument gears where such non-embedding qualities are desired. It has a medium polishing quality."

Don't know why the hardness discrepency between the two references.
 
I inherited a few. Dovo made me a custom. I impregnated the canvas strop with the yellow stuff.
It is a real luxury to shave with a razor.
There was a Belgian MD who went into this in great detail back in `95 in knife forums.
 
Cheers all!

Dean I use garnet paper for wood finishing especialy in fine grades because as it breaks down the finish gets finer & finer. Its like working through the grades!

Thats interesting Tohatchi,Clarky, I thought ferric oxide was rust, which is softer than Iron? Perhaps I am missing something?

Whos Dovo Warlock? & has anyone any idea how I can find Knife forums archives for 1995?

Cheers,
Spiral
 
Spir,
Dovo is a Co.(French) that makes razors!Warlock6 is a great guy,who has so much knowledge from his experiences,he is amazing!!
THE SAINT!:cool:
 
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