Leather strops today? Good, Better, Best, or simply overpriced or out of date?

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Sid Post

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Oct 14, 1998
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Ok, I'll admit that when I think of a leather strop for sharpening I have an image of a straight razor being tuned up for a shave.

Looking around the web, there is a lot of stuff being pushed for sale with various claims. With modern 'super' steels, I question if they are effective and at what point they become a good option.

Then, assuming you want to try one, what is a good "value" and where should you shop for a strop? What about compounds? Do you need two strops to run different compounds?

In my case, I am thinking about polished edges on slip joints and smaller fixed blades used for camping with food prep included as part of the experience of camp life. Right now I have a Fallkniven CC4 and Smith dual-side diamond sharpener so, 320/750 grit for rough work and ~1,000/~8,000 for finer work.

TIA,
Sid
 
If you plan on using compound with a strop, most anything firm and smooth will do for the strop itself. Leather, paper, cardboard, wood, fabric (denim, linen, canvas) all can fill the same role for that. All the specific benefits of expensive leather, such as its density of silicates, will be covered up and rendered essentially moot if used with compound.

I think bare leather strops are best used for what is essentially aligning a very fine edge, such as with a barber's strop used on a razor. Won't be a lot of polishing done with bare leather though, UNLESS it's used with a compound made for that. Some high-end leathers, like barber strops of horsehide, or kangaroo leather, can make a difference in the effectiveness of stropping, if used bare. But it would likely be wasted money if such high-end strops were covered with compound.

I tend to believe a hard strop of wood, used with compound, is best overall for polishing while keeping the apex as crisp as possible, and even refining sharpness by thinning the apex. Anything compressible like leather, under the pressure from the blade, will tend to convex the bevels and/or round over the apex, when used with compound.

And if you do like convexed & polished bevels, a hard-backed strop of denim, linen, canvas or similar fabric works very fast for that, when densely loaded with compound. Wax-based stick compounds like white rouge (fine aluminum oxide) can be heavily applied to such strops, because the weave of the fabric will take and hold more of it than a strop of leather or wood or paper. So the strop will be much more aggressive for removal of heavy burrs or for fast polishing and even reshaping (to convex) the bevels while polishing.

And if you are using multiple different compounds, then a dedicated strop for each is best, to avoid contamination of any one of them with a coarser, different compound.
 
Lots of good info there!

I have been looking at a Hutsuls wood back strop out of Ukraine for a compound on each side. Something coarser on the rough side of the strop and something fine on the smooth side.

I must admit I do like convexed edges on my fixed blades for outdoor usage. Whether that is optimal for a slip-joint used for simple household tasks, a stubborn package of snacks, or a bagel at a coffee shop is an unknown at this point. I have thought about using a mousepad a time or two with some superfine specialty sandpaper to give it a try though. I have some 2,000-grit sandpaper headed my way so, this might get a near term test run.

I should note the knives I'm looking to do this with are carbon steels like C70 and 1095, and simple stainless like the common dime-store slip-joints use and the Sandvik series. The new Victorinox Voyager recently released at $75 is probably a good candidate for this type of maintenance as well with convex edge maintenance.
 
I often make my own, but I am also very happy with DLTtrading's XL double sided paddle strops for the price. I have three, so six different grits and compounds, plus the wood on the sides is also smooth and even and can be loaded or used as is for the final touch. I load them with the Bark River white compound or with DMT diapaste. Efficient and fast.
 
Sid Post said:
Lots of good info there!

I have been looking at a Hutsuls wood back strop out of Ukraine for a compound on each side. Something coarser on the rough side of the strop and something fine on the smooth side.

I must admit I do like convexed edges on my fixed blades for outdoor usage. Whether that is optimal for a slip-joint used for simple household tasks, a stubborn package of snacks, or a bagel at a coffee shop is an unknown at this point. I have thought about using a mousepad a time or two with some superfine specialty sandpaper to give it a try though. I have some 2,000-grit sandpaper headed my way so, this might get a near term test run.

I should note the knives I'm looking to do this with are carbon steels like C70 and 1095, and simple stainless like the common dime-store slip-joints use and the Sandvik series. The new Victorinox Voyager recently released at $75 is probably a good candidate for this type of maintenance as well with convex edge maintenance.
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Based on the simple steels you're mentioning, green compound would do well on the carbon steels (C70, 1095). And the simple stainless blades in the varieties mentioned will respond very well to the 'white rouge' aluminum oxide compound I mentioned earlier. That type of white rouge in the stick form is usually labelled for use with stainless steels, as a matter of fact. You could also use it for the carbon steels, but it might be a bit overkill for those. Green is a better balance of effectiveness for polishing and refining, and a gentle subtlety at the same time, for simple carbon steels.

For convexing, I'd also suggest something firmer than the mousepad. You can use sandpaper over just a sheet or two of plain paper, over a very hard backing like stone or glass, to do some nice convexing without the worries of rounding off the apex on a very compressible substrate like a mouse pad. Just that layer or two of paper under the sandpaper will be enough 'cushion' to do all the convexing you need or want, while still doing a better job protecting the crispness of the apex. In fact, if you focus only on convexing the bevel shoulders behind the edge, while just barely touching the cheeks of the apex itself, you can follow that with some normal edge-leading sharpening passes on a stone, for refining the apex itself. That's the best way to keep the edge as sharp & crisp as you can make it.
 
Thanks! Looking at the white and green compounds on a DLTrading leather paddle at the moment.
 
I generally run a pure Leather strop .......... No topping !

A) You are looking for scratching - Indicates a bur !
For this you want Hard Leather - Smooth side up .. ( Cow Hide )
B) Pure leather will ( Hopefully ) knock the bur of !
C) What you are looking for are clean smooth passes on the leather .. ( Which could be an indication you have a clean smooth bur ) But with refined procedure to minimize the bur ( during sharpening ) The strop should help knock the bur of and give you some idea of how much bur you might have ..

Also stropping can be used to maintain an edge or restore an edge ..
By that I mean . strop before the knife goes dull ! If you can maintain the edge , the knife will last longer ( less sharpening ) .
If the steel is soft enough , you can strop back a dull knife ( convex edge ) ..

With compound .. Yeah , that's a thing for sure .. ( Strop back a dull edge )
A well formed bevel / edge will respond to the strop really well .. Once a knife becomes difficult to strop , it might want some more aggressive sharpening !
 
Sid Post said:
Then, assuming you want to try one, what is a good "value" and where should you shop for a strop? What about compounds? Do you need two strops to run different compounds?
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I have a variety of strops because I like to experiment--just in case the grass is greener on the other side. My favorites? I made them out of a stir stick that they give away at the paint store. One of them periodically gets some 40 micron diamond paste. The other one, my favorite, gets 1 micron diamond slurry. My fancier store-bought strops don't get used very often.
 
RustyIron said:
I have a variety of strops because I like to experiment--just in case the grass is greener on the other side. My favorites? I made them out of a stir stick that they give away at the paint store. One of them periodically gets some 40 micron diamond paste. The other one, my favorite, gets 1 micron diamond slurry. My fancier store-bought strops don't get used very often.
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That's my experience also. The strops that impressed me the most were all ones I made from inexpensive (or even free) materials like paint stir sticks or other pieces of scrap wood with fabric attached (usually denim from old jeans), and used with simple stick compounds. Also made some strops of hard wood only (usually basswood, sometimes oak), which I used with diamond compound. And the one 'bare' leather strop I use is simply the inside, sueded face of one of my leather belts, used like a hanging strop. Many years ago, I bought a four-sided strop block for razors, sourced from Germany. I've almost never used it since, after some initial experimentation with it.
 
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You really are going to be hunting for the combo of substrate that matches how you work, how much give you want it to have, and the steel you are working with. Straights are very simple carbon steels (or even if stainless, still extremely "clean") as in no real carbides. So you need to decide if you are "cutting" away steel with the abrasive, aligning an edge, or drawing the edge out by essentially dragging the steel down to the final apex. Not all steels will respond to those treatments. I recall seeing some electron microscope pics of D2 where you could see the channels created by all the carbides being torn out of the steel. That would really be defeating the purpose!
Get some cheap materials, try a variety of compounds, and see how the steel reacts. If you are not using a coated blade, you can even just see how different compounds polish or finish parts of the bevel, just to see if they are going to have any impact at all, although, sometimes you will be looking for very subtle clues, if all you are doing is very final edge finishing.
 
Oh I'm so glad I ran into this thread. Good info and new things for me to try.
I'm the guy who actually loves to sharpen a knife, weird some say but I'll play with this denim idea, make my own strop, use compound and mirror up that baby.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts guys, never to good or old to learn a thing or two.
 
U can use just about anything for a strop .. Soft or hard wood , Cardboard . Leather . Plastic , even other metals ..
For a long time I stropped on a hardened steel security bolt & Yes it works .
You are only limited by your imagination and skill .
If the end result is a sharp knife - Then ................. nuff said !
 
I picked up some balsa wood from Hobby Lobby in different widths and some basswood. I had different grades of leather already so I’ve been messing with those. Looking at the different compounds and such now aside from the white, red and green paste I already have from the shop. I do think I am going to get some 1 inch by 1/8th aluminum and make some different strops to have ready for different knives.
 
Been using a pinewood forge strop for years, Del uses very specific thin leathers that take to compounds well... no need for mineral oil.

I've tried the mineral oil tip on homemade strops (out of very nice 4oz italian veg tan) and I don't like the feedback the mineral gives me. Yes it helps spread the compound in but I can somehow feel the oil when stropping.
 
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