Leather hones..... OMG!

B

bigjim

Joined
May 7, 2005
Messages
434
Been using some Hand American leather hones with the green paste and a naked hone for the finish. I have started to really get the hang of it and I am amazed at what you can do.

These leather strops take sharpness to a entirely new level. I stropped a Wustoff Santuku today that I had thinned the edge on and polished up with ceramic stones. I thought I had that thing sharp..... but OMG after stropping its freaking CRAZY sharp. Seriously cutting veggies with it is effortless, the weight of the knife is all you need for clean single pass slices. On a tomato there is NO slideing on the skin...sinks in instantly.

Guys if you have not tried a leather hone..... Your missing out.
 
I use the sheath from an old Buck 110 to strop, without paste. Gives a nice polished, scary edge.
 
bigjim where do you get your leather hones and green paste? I'd like to give it a try.
 
digdeep said:
bigjim where do you get your leather hones and green paste? I'd like to give it a try.
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Finest steels, stones, leather hones and strop paste on the earth with nice people and great service. All at super fair prices.
http://www.handamerican.com/

These thing are sold elsewhere but I can think of no reason what so ever to shop anywhere else for these things.

No I am not connected to the store in anyway. Just a happy owner of the products they sell.
 
The folks at Hand American have products with extremely good quality at fair prices. They are a class act, and I have always enjoyed doing business with them. In fact, I'm getting ready to make another order....
 
I got some of the paste with a leather hone, but I'm not quite sure how much of the paste to use. Any suggestions?
 
It doesn't take much. Make sure the paste is well mixed/shaken, and I put it on with my finger, a couple of dabs. As you strop, the knife will remove the excess.
 
So, isn't this "paste" just green jewelers polishing compound?
Red rouge is for fine polish.
White cuts really fast and green is in between.
 
Which one is the "green paste" ? Or do I need them all ?

Is there more than one "type" of leather strap to buy as well ?

Thanks, Tim
 
No slight to HandAmerican, but another source (and the strop I personally use) is from Lee Valley Tools. Their wood-backed leather strop comes in either single or double-sided.

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=32999&cat=1,43072

I have a double-sided model and I use it with Veritas Chromium Oxide honing compound on one side.

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=32984&cat=1,43072

This combination works well to finish off a sharpening job - and Lee Valley Tools is one of the very best to deal with online!!!


David
 
Hey! I just got that combo! Tried it on my Ritter grip. Wow! How do you go about applying the Veritas honing stuff? I just sorta rubbed it into the leather. Hope that's OK . . .?
 
BenchmadeBoy said:
How do you go about applying the Veritas honing stuff? I just sorta rubbed it into the leather. Hope that's OK . . .?
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It should work OK. I read (somewhere :confused: ) to treat the leather first with Neatsfoot oil. I did that and the honing compound sticks well. Of course, it may worked just as well without the oil treatment. If you have any problems with the honing compound sticking then give the Neatsfoot oil a try.

David
 
Buying a strop seems like a big waste of money to me.

Wait!

Before you say I'm crazy for not using a strop, I didn't say that. Just that buying one is a waste. I made one from an old leather belt that I glued to a piece of 1x2 pine. It is about 16 inches long and 1.5 inches wide. I rubbed white stick compound from the hardware store into it and it works great. All from things that were on the way to the dump except for the compound.

Very little work and you can make your own just as good as anything you could buy.
 
I dust a little white lapidary polish into a leather strip. I think it's aluminum oxide. I had to buy a one pound tin.....enough for a thousand lifetimes! I'd send some to anyone who wants, but sending envelopes of white powder though the mail.....I don't THINK so, not after 9/11!
 
If it says Linde A, it is 0.3 micron aluminum oxide... great stropping stuff.

If it is Linde B, it is 0.05 micron alumina and pretty much too fine... so fine that you won't notice much of an effect.

The other two white polishes are tin oxide and titanium dioxide... the second will work but is WAYYY too messy (there is a very good reason why they use it as a pigment in white paint!!!)
 
I use and like this one. As simple as taking out of the box and going to town.

Took these guys 10 years to develop this one. They mix chromium oxide and olive oil together, heat until the consistency of vaseline and spread in on chap leather glued to particle board. Then scrape off the excess and sand the edges.

I contact cemented a piece of rubber shelf liner to the bottom of mine. Works great. Similar to using a bench stone.

A few trailing swipes, and the hair on my arm starts popping off just looking at the edge. Also great for any manual polishing work on your knives.

http://www.knivesplus.com/KP-STROP8-STROPBLOCK.html
 
frugalweaver said:
Buying a strop seems like a big waste of money to me.

Wait!

Before you say I'm crazy for not using a strop, I didn't say that. Just that buying one is a waste. I made one from an old leather belt that I glued to a piece of 1x2 pine. It is about 16 inches long and 1.5 inches wide. I rubbed white stick compound from the hardware store into it and it works great. All from things that were on the way to the dump except for the compound.

Very little work and you can make your own just as good as anything you could buy.
Click to expand...

I did the same thing I used some contact cement on a 1/4" thick piece of leather and glued it to a 1"x3" stick of pine about 14" long. I made some stropping compound using some red buffing compound disolved in a couple tablespoons of paint thinner and some 3 in 1 oil. Makes knives wicked sharp!
 
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