How do I make my own strop?

B

BurkStar

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A couple of weeks ago I read on the Emerson web site about using the back of a legal pad for stropping an Emerson knife. Amazingly it works. But in my never-ending quest for sharpening perfection (I've got a long long long ways to go, although I do have a 204 Sharpmaker somewhere in the mail) I've decided to make my own strop. Will just any leather glued/nailed/tacked/stapled to a chunk of wood work? What would be a good size? Any suggestions?
 
I would say about 3-4"x24" would suffice. Get some green chrome rouge from a knifemakers supply house, wet the leather with some kerosene(just damp), and rub the rouge in. The kerosene helps to get it on and into the leather. Good luck.
 
I took a thin strap, 2"wide,of belt leather. Bought it as scrap at the leather shop near me. Used Barges (that spelled right?) cement and glued it to a strip of 2X2. Rubbed it down with a little polishing compound, I think I had red Rouge laying around. Just pull the blade across it, at a shallow angle. Seems to polish it up nicely and gets rid of the little "wire" edge that gets kicked up during sharpening sometimes. I don't seem to do that well with a loose strop.
 
I got some scrap leather and used a hot glue gun to glue the leather to some paint stirring sticks that I got free from Ace Hardware. I have been using green rouge.
 
Here is the two-dollar question....Do you strop on the finished side of a belt or the unfinished????????? I have been using the Finished side with red polishing compound and it works well, but I keep getting told I have my leather mounted "backwards".

Wolf
 
I used the smooth side. seems to work well. A real strop is smooth...I assumed it was right.
 
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