How to re-surface a leather strop

[KarlMaldensNose]

I dunno. Thought maybe you guys could help.

Seriously, I have a double-sided 3x15" leather paddle strop to fix up for my Pops. He has massacred it. Ridges as big and deep as the Grand Canyon all over it. He must be digging in too hard with the heel and tip. I told him to go light and easy when I gifted it to him along with a Japanese kitchen knife. But he had no idea what a strop was, and his idea of sharpening is more in line with grinding into an oilstone with elbow grease and I suppose he is appoaching stropping similarly. Old dog... new tricks... no thanks, not for him... just the way he is... nostalgic, stubborn, and proud of it. I love him for it.

So back to my problem. Here are the particulars. The leather is standard veg tanned cowhide from Tandy. One side has 3 micron Diapaste on it, the other has 1 micron HA diamond spray. I imagine sandpaper is the way to go. But what kind? Normal or wet/dry? Would either kind work? What grit range? I have a glass lapping plate and thought of affixing to it whatever kind of sandpaper is appropriate. That way I'd have a hard, flat surface on which to rub the strop to evenly re-surface it. How's that sound? If no good, what then? Many thanks.

 

[Jason B.]

Orbital with 220 or 320 grit works great. Same would work by hand too.

 

[trimcut123]

I would like to fix mine up too, any more info on this. Detailed!? I know zip about leather.
Matt

 

[Jason B.]

Its simple really, just sand. Clean after and re-apply compound. Don't do this to a bare strop though, it will never be the same.

 

[KarlMaldensNose]

Orbital with 220 or 320 grit works great. Same would work by hand too.

I'm assuming you've done this before with such grits? If I were to guess without having consulted this forum first, I would have said maybe 600 on the low end and 1000 on the high end. But I'd certainly rather take your word for it than go with a blind guess. Thanks for chiming in on this one.

Almost forgot: 220-320 'regular' sandpaper (like for wood), or wet/dry paper?

 

[Jason B.]

Going finer tends to polish the surface, say 600 and higher.

Paper type? I don't think it matters a whole lot but I've always used wet/dry because it was what I had.

 

[HeavyHanded]

When making a new strop or reconditioning a hammered one, I use dish soap, an old Silicon Carbide bench stone, and some warm water. Just work a few drops of the soap into the leather and wet it down a little. Give a good rub down w/ the stone, adding more water as needed. When the nap looks good, rinse well and smooth it down in the direction you'll be stropping. Let 'er dry and you're done. Incidentally I find using a small amount of dish soap on the leather prior to applying compound (crayon -type) allows me to smooth it into the leather very uniformly with my fingertips. Let it dry and you're in business. Down the road if it starts to get heavily matted, loaded up etc, a few drops of water will break it all back up and allow it to be smoothed out again using just your fingertips or at worse a clean rag. Have used this method with green CrO and Flexcut Gold (both from Woodcraft) and black emery from Sears. Works great.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

I've used either of wet/dry or garnet (as used for wood) sandpaper, at a fairly coarse or medium grit. Between about 220 and 400 for wet/dry, the grit specs for equivalent garnet-type paper tend to be lower, number-wise (like around 60 to 100 for 'coarse'). With deep cuts/ridges in the leather, I'd start at the low end of the grit range. I just wrap a piece around a wooden block, and scrub the leather with it. Only takes maybe 5 minutes. It will leave a velvety 'nap' on the surface of the leather, which holds compound very well.

 

[stitchawl]

Incidentally I find using a small amount of dish soap on the leather prior to applying compound (crayon -type) allows me to smooth it into the leather very uniformly with my fingertips.

If you are able to coat the leather 'uniformly,' I'd guess you are using about 600% too much compound...

It's not cake frosting. The best results come from a strop on which you can 'just see the color' of the compound tinting the leather, not the compound itself.

Imagine that one is using green Chromium Oxide. That's usually rated a .5 micron. If you apply a layer that is .5 millimeters thick over the substrate, that is 500 times thicker than needed...


Stitchawl

 

[HeavyHanded]

If you are able to coat the leather 'uniformly,' I'd guess you are using about 600% too much compound...

It's not cake frosting. The best results come from a strop on which you can 'just see the color' of the compound tinting the leather, not the compound itself.

Imagine that one is using green Chromium Oxide. That's usually rated a .5 micron. If you apply a layer that is .5 millimeters thick over the substrate, that is 500 times thicker than needed...


Stitchawl

Who the hell said anything about "coating" the leather (your word not mine) like "cake frosting" (your word again)? How about getting a light, uniform application of compound where the entire grain of the leather is still perfectly visible but sports a hint of color from the compound? Is this not something that Knifeknut has repeatedly said re crayon type compounds - that they usually need extra means to spread them on the leather or they'll go on too thick? Maybe you could get an old scrap of leather and try what I suggest before responding with unsolicited criticism? Better yet, maybe you have a better suggestion for handling these types compounds instead of misreading what I contributed, jumping to (erroneous) conclusions and topping it off with bold and enlarged typeface? Where are your manners, Sir?

HH

 

[stitchawl]

Who the hell said anything about "coating" the leather (your word not mine) like "cake frosting" (your word again)?

My apologies. When I see someone say that they are trying "to smooth it into the leather very uniformly with my fingertips" I mistakenly assume that it's thick enough to need to be smoothed. Tinting with color usually doesn't need to be uniformly smoothed. It's just not that thick. I'm sure you can see how I might have misunderstood. My mistake, and I apologize.

Is this not something that Knifeknut has repeatedly said re crayon type compounds - that they usually need extra means to spread them on the leather or they'll go on too thick?

Actually, I don't find that to be the case, when applied correctly. If you have a problem, you might try some of the powdered compound. That completely eliminates the situation.

Maybe you could get an old scrap of leather and try what I suggest before responding with unsolicited criticism?

Perhaps you might realize that in a public forum, you will receive positive and negative comments, whether you solicit them or not, an not get so hot under the collar when you do get them.

Better yet, maybe you have a better suggestion for handling these types compounds instead of misreading what I contributed, jumping to (erroneous) conclusions

Thanks, but I have been making them. For the past three years or so, especially on the subject of stropping and compounds. Perhaps if you'd been around for more than a few months you'd know that.

Where are your manners, Sir?

Right here. That's why I'm apologizing to you for misunderstanding what you said.


Stitchawl

 

[KarlMaldensNose]

If you have a problem, you might try some of the powdered compound. That completely eliminates the situation.
Stitchawl

I wish more people knew about this stuff and more places sold it. Soooo much better (yes, a blanket statement!) than the crayon junk (which I do own and have actually used extensively for over a year before I tried powder). Check it out, people!

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

I've applied the 'light pressure is best' philosophy to applying the green stick ('crayon') compound, in addition to recommending it as good sharpening practice. I just let the weight of the 'crayon' do the work (sound familiar?). After sanding the leather to give it some 'nap', I use the crayon (stick) to make diagonal cross-hatch lines across the leather, spaced perhaps 1/2" apart. Leaves lines that are just lightly 'green tinted', as opposed to thick, deep stripes. Then, I use a dry paper towel to scrub & brush the compound into the leather, and that also helps to distribute it more evenly. The paper towel also will collect most of any excess compound. The nice thing is, the leather will hold onto what little compound is actually needed. Anything rubbed off by the paper towel, is excess. That's all it needs.

 

[stitchawl]

I'm amazed at the wealth of incorrect information that can be found on YouTube about using compounds. The way so many of the videos demonstrate, they may as well be stropping directly ON the bar of compound...

When we are dealing with an agent that is just a few microns in size, we really don't need to worry about even making it smooth. My experiments with various compounds show me that using a cross-hatch application with just the weight of the bar puts on a perfect coating without even the need to rub it out (except to keep the work area a bit cleaner) unless you want to rub it out. The first pass of a knife blade over it will distribute enough grit between the hatch marks to be effective, and there is no need to make an 'even' coating. It will work just as effectively (or better) as an interrupted diamond plate. A bar of compound the size of a 'Milky Way' chocolate bar should last the average hobbyist using it on a non-powered strop about 150 years... or more.

Using more compound won't hurt anything. It just won't help anything other than the wallet of the shops selling the stuff.

Stitchawl

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

I wish more people knew about this stuff and more places sold it. Soooo much better (yes, a blanket statement!) than the crayon junk (which I do own and have actually used extensively for over a year before I tried powder). Check it out, people!

I've been tempted to try the powdered compound, but have been somewhat concerned about the 'dust' factor. The 'crayon' compound will drop little 'clumps' around, but there doesn't seem to be that much of a dust 'cloud' when using it. How dusty is the powdered stuff?

Thanks.

 

[Jason B.]

That's why I like the liquids, pastes, and especially the sprays... don't get much easier than spray on compound.

 

[Jameson]

not dusty at all if you use a little olive oil to make a thin paste then apply it. It will sink in and "harden" or dry off and you will have impregnated compound. Wipe with a paper towel the next day to remove excess. You should see little hairs or fingers of leather, not a slick/smooth surface filled with compound.

JC

 

[thombrogan]

Thanks everyone!

Looks like I have a strop to sand (incidentally also 3" x 15").

 

[neeman]

New to stropping
Very impressed with it

Thanks for the learning

 

[HoosierQ]

...A bar of compound the size of a 'Milky Way' chocolate bar should last the average hobbyist using it on a non-powered strop about 150 years... or more.

Using more compound won't hurt anything. It just won't help anything other than the wallet of the shops selling the stuff.

Stitchawl

Man I hear that! When I first got a strop and the green compound I melted the stuff on there like candle wax on a wine bottle in an Italian restaurant. What a mess!!! Green stuff everywhere...it was horrible...but it did work. Then I got wise and now I have two "Milky Way" sized bars and I suspect I'll be passing at least one if not both of them down to my grandchildren right along with my knives. I spray a little WD-40 on a paper towel and it cleans off the gitty bits that get on there and it raises compound up and out of the leather. Even though I do crayon on a little extra every now and then, I can still see leather everywhere and frankly, I'd guess you could load up a strop and go for years on it without re-loading...couple years anyway.

Stropping is a subtle skill.