How do I make a strop?

[lambertiana]

Here's the deal: I have some leather and a couple of different grades of abrasive left over from a telecope mirror grinding/polishing project. I would like to make a couple of different grit strops. What is the best way to put the abrasive powder on the leather so it stays and works properly?

 

[MaxTheKnife]

Here's what I do lambertiana.

Just find some high quality leather at least 3' long and no less than 3" wide. Cut a handle shape on one end and punch a hole in the other. Drive a nail or screw into an unused corner of your workbench and hook the hole in your strop in the nail. Get some red jewelers rouge or green wax based buffing compound and rub it into the rough unfinished side of the leather. Leave the smooth side alone. That will be your finishing side. Just make however many of these you need with the corresponding grits and hang them on a nail on the wall so they stay straight.

The leather you choose isn't real important but I wouldn't use anything less than 3/16" thick. It needs to be stiff but not rigid like rawhide. There you go. Have fun.

 

[Paracelsus]

Woodcarvers generally recommend Vaseline to hold abrasive powders to the leather. You already have everything you need. What sort of polishing powders do you have on hand?

Aluminum oxide powder comes in various grits. Green chromium oxide has a very small particle size making it ideal for strops. An abrasive in the submicron range works best for polishing. Larger particle powders can be used to remove lots of metal and eliminate the need for using stones. Have fun. Keep em' sharper than sharp!

Para

 

[helmar4578]

As a professional leather craftsman that uses knives every day, I often have to resort to the use of a strop to tune up the edges of my round, head, and swivel knives. Note that I said "tune up" as working the edge is primarily done on (in my case) a hard Arkansas whetstone. I do not care for the limber style of the old straight razor strop as it is rather limited in blade configuration as to what can be stropped upon it. I much prefer the bench style. This is made quite easily and does a fantastic job. Cut a 2x4 of pine approximately 2 feet long. Cut a leather strap from vegetable tanned cowhide the length and width of the 2x4. This strap is best cut from leather that has a minimum thickness of at least 7/8 or 8/9 ounces in thickness (an ounce in leather terms is 1/64 of an inch) ----This is glued flesh side down on the 2x4 using contact cement. Using a leather edging tool, edge the sides of the strap to round slightly and remove the rough edge fibers. At this point wet the strap liberally with neatsfoot oil or neatsfoot compound. While it is still wet, rub it vigorously with a stick of jeweler's rouge and the oil will desolve the rouge and leave the strap covered with a slurry of rouge and oil. The leather strap will absorb the slurry and as it drys will loose its wet look. At this point rub with a dry cloth and the strap is now a strop ready for any "tune up" you require-----Sandy