How often do you recharge your strop?

How often do you recharge your strop?
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When ever the low power light comes on. I hear it is bad for them to leave them on the charger continuously.
I don't ever use it though. I should sell it on the exchange. ((( :p )))
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Actually, the best thing to use is Stoddard Solvent. That's the stuff inside of WD-40 that makes it such an effective cleaner. Use it, and you won't have to coat your leather or denim with the mineral oil that is the other component of WD-40. Stoddard solvent leaves no residue of its own.

You can find small bottle of it labeled "Odorless Paint Thinner" in any art supply store.
 
stitchawl said:
Actually, the best thing to use is Stoddard Solvent. That's the stuff inside of WD-40 that makes it such an effective cleaner. Use it, and you won't have to coat your leather or denim with the mineral oil that is the other component of WD-40. Stoddard solvent leaves no residue of its own.

You can find small bottle of it labeled "Odorless Paint Thinner" in any art supply store.
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Lanolin hand cleaner leaves zero residue as well. Nothing but dry, raw, leather, screaming for a treatment of whatever. If you've never used it, try it on a small piece.
 
GORILLA duct tape. I got this tip off BF years ago. Tape your strop, apply pressure- rag or whatever, and pull it off. I was amazed.
 
Kootaga13 said:
Lanolin hand cleaner leaves zero residue as well. Nothing but dry, raw, leather, screaming for a treatment of whatever. If you've never used it, try it on a small piece.
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Umm... where does the lanolin go?
Don't get me wrong, lanolin is a great leather conditioner. One of the best money can buy. But it can't just disappear.
 
I place it under the kitchen faucet with as hot of water as I can and simply rinse it off. In this form, it's just like a cleaner. Paper towel dry, allow to air dry or hit it with the hair dryer for a few minutes and then let it none dry over night. Recharge tomorrow.
Another great hint, if you're using any of the stick oxides, heat the leather and the oxide first with a hot hair dryer. Makes a world of difference.
 
stitchawl said:
Probably get a good, thick layer that way, eh?


Stitchawl
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Not really - my goal is to get an even but very thin layer. The compound I have is a really hard stick crayon type made by Porter Cable for use with a buffing wheel, so it's hard to just manually rub it into leather, and you can end up with clumps on the surface. I want it sort of soaked in so it doesn't come right off on the first knife I strop. If I had a different stick of compound with more grease to it, perhaps it would go on smoother and I wouldn't need the heat. I don't always use the heat gun, but it seems to make it easier when charging a fresh strop the first time.

If I had a hand-held hair dryer I'd probably use that instead. I have in the past tried to soften up the compound using a butane lighter but that makes for clumpy spots on the strop that take some work to smooth out.
 
jc57 said:
Not really - my goal is to get an even but very thin layer. The compound I have is a really hard stick crayon type made by Porter Cable for use with a buffing wheel, so it's hard to just manually rub it into leather, and you can end up with clumps on the surface. I want it sort of soaked in so it doesn't come right off on the first knife I strop. If I had a different stick of compound with more grease to it, perhaps it would go on smoother and I wouldn't need the heat. I don't always use the heat gun, but it seems to make it easier when charging a fresh strop the first time.

If I had a hand-held hair dryer I'd probably use that instead. I have in the past tried to soften up the compound using a butane lighter but that makes for clumpy spots on the strop that take some work to smooth out.
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Those compounds will take to, and work much better on, a hard-backed strop of denim, linen or canvas. The fabric scrubs the compound from the stick much more easily, without as much of that slippery, lumpy, clumpy behavior that happens with these compounds on leather. And the fabric will hold it better as well. Makes a really aggressive, fast-working strop. As for cleaning them, just wipe them down with a microfiber towel and apply new compound. It'll still be blackened, but continues to work very well. Hard-backed fabric will also be less prone to compression, and therefore rounding of the edge, such as happens more easily on leather strops.

The rougher, sueded side of leather can sometimes initially take and hold stick compounds fairly well, like the fabrics. But with use, the sueded leather's nap will become flattened and smooth like the other side, and the problems with the stick compounds will rear their ugly heads again, when trying to reapply compound. Completely stripping off the old compound and sanding the leather can turn it around; but the fabric strops will still work better overall, with much less fussy maintenance.


David
 
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The barest tinge of color... That's all that's needed on a strop. A thousand microscopic dots. After all, the action is only happening on a microscopic level... the very tip-top of each dot. They don't even need to be level or smooth. If they did, the "Washboard" strop that one of our members sells wouldn't be nearly as effective as it is! And it IS effective! Bumps are not an issue. Even coverage of compound isn't even an issue. If we can see ANY color at all from the compound, that is more than enough. Otherwise, why not just strop on the side of the compound bar? It's smooth and flat. It's certainly full coverage. We know we don't need any pressure more than the weight of the knife, so we aren't going to damage the bar, right? Those big, one-pound bars are larger than most paddle strops too.

Thirty+/- years ago I bought liquid Chromium Oxide from HandAmerican. I bought two bottles because I thought I'd use it up quickly. (I didn't know much about stropping back then.) I do a LOT of stropping doing leather work and wood carving. I still have one and a half bottles of the stuff left. I put a finger-tip sized dot of it onto a 4"x10" bench strop about once a year... or every other year. Sometimes I think that's too often, but it's become a ritual. (I don't say a blessing over it while I'm putting it on, but perhaps I should?) It takes me about a minute and a half, between opening the bottle, touching my finger to its mouth, and rubbing it onto the strop, then wiping off my finger. It's a quick ritual...

Point is, many of us use way too much compound, slathering it onto strops as if it's peanut butter. That may well be 'their' ritual, and that's fine... but it doesn't make the strop work any better.


Stitchawl
 
Maybe I use too much, I dunno. In about 5 years, I have used up about 1/4" of that Porter-Cable PCPC5 green stick, and that's from using it on two leather strops and who knows how many impromptu cardboard or paperboard strops. At that rate it should last me 90 years. Not bad for $2.88 plus tax.

I do highly recommend S stitchawl 's recommendation to case your leather strops before use. I bought some good veg-tanned belt leather at Tandy, cut off about an 18" section, and hand-cased it using a rolling pin. Made for a nice, firm stropping surface. I will reiterate - if you are going to make your own strop, CASE THE LEATHER.

I put the compound on the rougher side (which wasn't especially rough, especially after the casing), and I can flip it over to use the smooth leather side with no compound on it. At some point I should do something with the rest of that leather - probably enough for 4 more strops.
 
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jc57 said:
Maybe I use too much, I dunno. In about 5 years, I have used up about 1/4" of that Porter-Cable PCPC5 green stick, and that's from using it on two leather strops and who knows how many impromptu cardboard or paperboard strops. At that rate it should last me 90 years. Not bad for $2.88 plus tax.
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The price is certainly right... unless we're using those fancy diamond sprays that are being sold for about a trillion dollars for a small bottle. But the diamond stuff certainly does work faster, too. We might only need 6-8 passes rather than 10-15 strokes. That in itself is worth the trillion bucks, to say nothing of the bragging rights!

I do highly recommend S stitchawl 's recommendation to case your leather strops before use. I bought some good veg-tanned belt leather at Tandy, cut off about an 18" section, and hand-cased it using a rolling pin. Made for a nice, firm stropping surface. I will reiterate - if you are going to make your own strop, CASE THE LEATHER.
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THAT should be branded onto every strop users forehead! Two reasons... First, if you are using the leather without compound, casing brings more natural silicates to the surface for more effective abrasion. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, stropping makes the leather more dense, firm, hard, etc., so when used correctly, less chance of rolling an edge.


Stitchawl
 
As for diamonds - I do have a bottle of diamond spray (older Hand American brand) - 10 carats of diamonds for $20. Better than the deal I got on the wife's wedding ring.

I used it on a balsa strop. So far, maybe 2 years, I have not had to re-charge that one, though it is getting close to time to sand it down and reapply. Still plenty of spray in the bottle - maybe 2/3rds full. I don't know how full it was in the first place, but being a cheapskate I applied it rather sparingly. I only use it for fancier kitchen knives and the few "super" steels I have. Leather and chromium oxide works for my Case/Buck/Victorinox pocket knives and the softer steel kitchen knives.
 
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