How to Clean Strops

F

Frank Hillary

Joined
Mar 29, 2005
Messages
149
Hi,

I use my strops after I finish on the stones. Tjis means geting rid of burs that fall of and end up in tiny bits embeded in the leather. I can see them shining like little stars under a strong light. Any ideas on how to clean them out? I mean I can't see them doing any good to the edge after a while. Thanks for any suggestions.

Regards
Frank
 
I have the same problem, but even worse for me is the horrible cuts I've put in a couple of them while stropping.

What I ended up doing is to take my Black & Decker mouse sander and sand the cuts and crud right off the top of it. I was worried it would change the surface greatly, but after reapplying CrO2 gel and diamond paste, I could not even tell the difference. I got the same glossy sheen on my strop now after sanding, then I did before.
 
I'm trying to learn how to strop. Wait a minute.....I'm trying to learn how to sharpen! And strop! Ok, I can get a very sharp edge on my knives with the Sharpmaker and wet/dry paper, but now I'm seeking that "hair popping" stropped edge.

I went to Hobby Lobby and bought a bag of leather scraps. All of them are about 7 to 9 ounce thick leather scraps. $5.99 for quite a bit. I figured I could make some leather sheaths for a tape measure, flashlight, etc, in practice for when I make knife sheaths. Anyway, I ended up making two nice leather strops, about 3" x 9", and glued them to a hardwood base.

Just a thought if you need more leather.....
 
Hi,

Thanks for those tips. Maybe throwing the leather away after a while is the way to go. My problem is that I am using expensive barbers strops. Will change to cheaper leather bits.

Reagrds
Frank
 
I wouldn't recommend this for one of those high quality razor strops, but for the ones I use I usually just rub some waterless hand cleaner (pumice free, like goop) and let it set for a few seconds, then wipe off, usually takes almost all the old compound and metal bits out(I learned this one from handamerican's website). I also like to use a sharp, clean paint scraper held close to 90 degrees and using a stropping motion scrape anything off of the surface.
 
I just take a wire brush and rough up the leather every so often then reload it with compound. Eventually they will wear out so replacing the leather after awhile is also a good idea.
 
Hi M.McCord

You must end upwith the leather looking something like suede. I often wondered if a rughed surface would work any beter than the smooth ones that barbers razors come with.

Regards
Frank
 
Depends on which side of the leather you are using.

With smooth leather, I can go to a fairly fine grit on my 2x72 belt grinder and have it new pretty quick.

You also might want to try getting rid of most of that burr with progressively finer stones and a microbevel before stropping.

John
 
Frank Hillary said:
Hi M.McCord

You must end upwith the leather looking something like suede. I often wondered if a rughed surface would work any beter than the smooth ones that barbers razors come with.

Regards
Frank
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I guess if you went crazy with the brush it would eventually look like suede. I just rough it up enough to load new rouge. I'm assuming the metal particles are coming out.

I normally go from stone to flesh (rough) side for a few swipes then move over to the grain (smooth) side.

Can't say that my method is better than anyone else's, but it works for me. And I've always got the sharpest knife in any group I'm in! :D
 
yoda4561 said:
I wouldn't recommend this for one of those high quality razor strops, but for the ones I use I usually just rub some waterless hand cleaner (pumice free, like goop) and let it set for a few seconds, then wipe off, usually takes almost all the old compound and metal bits out(I learned this one from handamerican's website). I also like to use a sharp, clean paint scraper held close to 90 degrees and using a stropping motion scrape anything off of the surface.
Click to expand...

+1 here.

The only thing is, I don't load my barbers strops, but leave them as they came from the factory years ago.

I have a 2 sided strop from Lee Valley that I clean this way (I use GoJo), and change compounds to suit my needs. I like the really coarse grits from HA because this knife and strop stays in my work bag and is used for slicing the cardboard wrappers off rolls of printing paper.

Rob
 
Yeah, I should probably edit my post, I was thinking Gojo, I can't remember if there's a waterless hand cleaner named goop, but I DO know that there's a very very tenacious adhesive that would be... unwise to rub over any piece of sharpening leather.
 
yoda4561 said:
Yeah, I should probably edit my post, I was thinking Gojo, I can't remember if there's a waterless hand cleaner named goop, but I DO know that there's a very very tenacious adhesive that would be... unwise to rub over any piece of sharpening leather.
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Gojo is the way to go. I just bought some last night. I couldnt find any at normal retailers so I ended up going to Napa to find some. I got the lemon scent non pumice.

I dont know if I cleaned it right or not but this is the route I went. BTW when you guys clean your strop, does it come back the same color? Mine seemed noticeably darker after I cleaned it. Still works like new though!

1) Take a bit of Gojo out and rub it into the strop. (wipe excess with a cloth)
2) Keep on rubing until the rest disappears.
3) Repeat this until you think ur strop is clean.

4) Re-Apply Gojo and barely rub in, then take a razor blade and scrape with the grain to smoothen it up.
5) Repeat until you get it where you want.

6) Do the same as 4, 5 but go against the grain.

7) Wipe off and dry with a cloth.
8) Let it sit and dry overnight.

9) Apply oil/leather lotion (whichever one you like or have) and rub in gently.
10) Scrape with a Razor with the grain.
11) Apply a final application of leather treatment and let it sit to try.

12) Once everything is dry, Apply your CrO or whatever you use to charge up the strop.
 
yoda4561 said:
I usually just rub some waterless hand cleaner (pumice free, like goop) and let it set for a few seconds, then wipe off, usually takes almost all the old compound and metal bits out(I learned this one from handamerican's website).QUOTE]


:thumbup: Yup, I found this tip here on the forums a while back and it works like a charm.:thumbup:
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