Inexspensive leather strop

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Irishpride1986

Joined
Oct 7, 2014
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I've been looking all over the internet for a cheap first strop the poor mans strop kit seems good but I don't know if it's only for razors if anyone has it can you tell me if it works good Im trying to get a strop no more then 25$
 
You can make one for less than that. All you need is an old leather belt and whatever compound you want to use. Compound one side and leave the other side bare. You can also get a strop block from Knives Plus that's already loaded with CrO2 for less than $25. I started with that as my first strop. It's limited by its size, but if you're doing folders, it should do the trick for a while.

IIRC, you're right about razor strops not being ideal for knives. They'll work, but they're not the best solution.

And welcome to BF.
 
I'm trying to get my knives razor sharp my sharpmaker does a good job but after 1 box i can't take 1 hair off my arm I want to mantain that razor edge
 
Irishpride1986 said:
I've been looking all over the internet for a cheap first strop the poor mans strop kit seems good but I don't know if it's only for razors if anyone has it can you tell me if it works good Im trying to get a strop no more then 25$
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"The Poor Man strop kit contains a 2" x 26" leather strop and a balsa strop to which abrasives have been added. It also includes a hook for wall mounting, and a small packet of Neatsfoot oil for treating the leather strop. The leather strop can also be looped around a towel rod as shown in the pictures.

The balsa wood has been treated on one side with 0.3 micron chromium oxide (green) and with 0.1 micron iron oxide (red) on the other side. Additional supply of these abrasives are included.
"
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If you use this particular strop, don't be shy about replacing the red iron oxide compound with something more useful for modern knives. The green compound on one side should work well enough for simpler steels like 1095, CV, 420HC. On the 'red' side, if you substitute some white aluminum oxide compound or 'black' silicon carbide or aluminum oxide in it's place, you'll get a lot more out of the strop. Use the black or white before the green side, in the stropping sequence. Red iron oxide won't do much for modern cutlery steels; it's very soft by comparison even to the 'green' compound (chromium oxide), and won't do much better than bare leather stropping alone. For very, very thin edges on straight razors in carbon steels, it might be OK.

Basically, for the above kit, you're just paying for the convenience of somebody else setting it all up for you; there's nothing special in the materials they provide. You can make the equivalent with a piece of scrap leather (veg-tanned) and scrap wood, with some hardware-store-bought buffing compound (green/white/black) for much less money. Also include some spray adhesive or contact cement to attach the leather to the board. It's possible you'll spend the most for the stick-type compound itself (maybe $3-$8, depending where you get it); the piece of leather and wood (balsa too) could be found at a hobby/craft shop for cheap, or even for free, if you have access to scrap leather. A strop of denim (old jeans) or linen (bed sheet, old shirts) can work just as well as leather, and maybe even better; those materials can likely be found in the 'cast-offs' from your closet. :)


David
 
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It seems easy to do but I don't have any craft or hobby stores near me i looked online a bit but it comes to about the same price
 
if the knives aren't taking arm hair off fresh from the stones, I would say you need to spend some more time on them. I make knives and straight razors, if the razor wont shave hair of the bevel set then nothing you do will make that happen.
 
Irishpride1986 said:
No it takes off the hair but after I cut 1 box it's gone
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Sorry for the long reply in advance!

I would second the idea to make your own strop. Not only is it likely cheaper and more fun (just like learning to sharpen freehand, you own your knife and your sharpness even more ...) but you can also fine-tune your strop to your needs, at least with a leather strop. I have been tinkering with leather strops with different pretreatments of the leather at home and I am quite amazed. You can make it as hard as a rock or as soft as a mousepad (well, almost). Here is an example of yesterdays work, a few dollars all together (thick hard leather on MDF with contact cement and Sic compound paste applied and compressed into leather):

IMG_1883.jpg

I also like OwE mentioned denim strops, even easier to make and good feedback. I use spray glue for those since I felt that contact cement or other glue (Gorilla etc.) makes the denim feel too hard and it is easier to replace this way too. No issue with rolling (of the fabric that is) etc. so far. You can also use just plain copy paper on hard backing and apply compound, particularly for more "repair" work, this is an excellent and clean method. No fuss, throw paper out afterwards. Very coarse stones or HeavyHanded's washboard is excellent for this.

Irishpride1989, if your knife is dull after one box, you either have a knife with a very poor heat treatment/poor steel or you had a burr/wire off the Spyderco Sharpmaker (more likely)! Typically shaving sharp on hair but dulls immediately on "tougher" material. If you sliced newsprint more than just a few times, you would suddenly feel the edge catching if there is a burr left. The newsprint is tough enough to bent over/disturb the burr/wired edge enough after a few cuts.

I don't know how you use your Spyderco Sharpmaker but at the stage when you do light alternating strokes, use a wooden stick and "scrape" the edge sideways along the wood. This way you can fold over the burr to one side and make sure you "file" the burr off with edge leading strokes. I also use a x10 lupe but you need to know what to look for. If my hands are clean and dry (so no waterstones) I can reliably feel a burr, even if I have problems seeing it with my x10 lupe. If you use a very coarse stone, differentiating between the burr and the "coarse apex" is sometimes challenging I find, here a lupe helps too.
 
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For <$20, you should be able to make many strops.

Get vegetable-tanned leather from your local hobby store or fabric store. My local hobby store has 8"x11" for about $6 after 40%-off coupon. Get 1.5" and 2.5" wide strips of hardwood (poplar, maple) from your local big box store. Get rubber cement from just about anywhere.

And, as already mentioned, you can use other materials as well - denim, cardboard, printer paper, even just bare maple - with polishing compounds or diamond paste/spray.
 
Just watched one video where a guy uses a rectangular piece of thick leather that folds over like a wallet with snaps to keep it closed. Just another option.
 
the best leather to use as far as I know is kangaroo, the density of vegtan kangaroo is several times denser than cowhide, calf or goatskin. You could try online from people that sell individual square foot of leather or one small hide and make sheaths or for new strops. Avoid the belly of the leather since it has the most stretch, shoulder (some heavy wrinkles) also isn't as great in strength test as the bend/butt of the leather. the bend/back is the best closer to the spine of the hide the better, although any piece from the bend/butt/torso is good.

Head over to leatherworker on google search and there are many people that many even be willing to send you a small piece for free at most 5 bucks plus shipping.
 
The knife I'm trying to keep razor sharp is the cold steel american lawman i use the bench stone on the Spyderco I've been using just the fine stones since it's still sharp
 
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