Looking for a strop/hone

FrankieCrabs

FrankieCrabs

Joined
Nov 28, 2000
Messages
524
Hello, all.

I recently picked up a Basic 9, and wanted to get a strop for use with it. Right now, all I've got is a Sharpmaker 204. Never having used a strop before, I was wondering if anybody had any recommendations. I was looking at the following:
http://www.handamerican.com/handihone.html
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.asp?page=32971&category=1,43072&ccurrency=2&SID=
http://store.knifecenter.com/pgi-ProductSpec?J41

The Hand American hones come with the following: "super fine chromium oxide [10,000 grit] for use on the smooth hide, and 600 grit silicon carbide for the textured hide"

Any suggestions on these, or other, materials would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Frank
 
Aloha

If I could make an alternative suggestion about strops. I was facing the same quandry, and even purchased one from the knifecenter..The strop I recieved was nice, but the surface area was too small. Sooooooo....I went to Ebay, did a search for leather strops and low and behold there were a lot of old barber strops for auction. There are usually all kinds of strops being bid on there, both smaller handled one that you were looking at as well as the 24 inck belt models that were common in barber shops. The moral of the story is that I successfully bid on and got a leather and canvas strop in mint condition and paid $35 dollars for it. It has a clip on the end that I attach it to a cabinet or door handle when I want to use it, and away I go. After having used both the smaller handled strop that you are looking at and the belt strop that I have, the belt is the way to go. With this and my EdgePro sharpener, my knives are scary sharp.

Wabi
 
I bought some strop leather from Handamerican and made my own stop. I use their polishing compound on it and it works great. I use it on my basic 9 all the time. It gets it VERY sharp. Their prices for strop leather are by the square foot. I got a piece 3" X "48 for close to nothing...
 
Originally posted by AntDog
I bought some strop leather from Handamerican and made my own stop. I use their polishing compound on it and it works great. I use it on my basic 9 all the time. It gets it VERY sharp. Their prices for strop leather are by the square foot. I got a piece 3" X "48 for close to nothing...
Click to expand...

I like my strops around 1 1/8" to 1 1/4" wide and around 2 feet long so this amount of leather would be perfect.
And if cut very carefully a peron could get 4 strops out of it.
I have a lot of khukuris and the narrower strops makes it easier to get in the recurved area of the blade, might be something to think about on the bolos as well?

And if you have several strops you can charge each one with a different grade of compound. I have 2 at the present. One charged with Tripoli and the other Jewelers Rouge,
One of these days I will make me another for the Chrome Oxide.
The Chrome Oxide gets any knife scary sharp!!!!
I glue mine rough side down on a strip of 1" by however wide I want it, the same size as the leather, long enough for the leather and a handle.
And I glue all of them rough side down.
I made the 1st 2 strops with one having the rough side up and then removed it and put on a new piece of leather when I found out it didn't work as effieciently for me.
The strops work excellently on both sides, but is a wonderful way of maintaining the convex on the assymetrical grind. You can see the smooth side of the leather conforming to the convex when the blade is pulled along it. :)
Any good wood glue will hold the leather nicely. I use the yellow carpenters glue and then clamp it in the vise of my wood vise until it's good and dry.
It's very simple to make a strop with just a little bit of time.
Go for it!!!!!!!:)
 
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