Making a strop

[JGguns]

Hey fellas, I want to make a couple bench strops and was wondering if the scrap leather I bought from hobby lobby will work. It doesn't say how it was tanned but it seems to be okay leather. Also it comes dyed if that matters. Unfortunately I cannot find anywhere near me that sells good in dyed leather.

If the leather will work, my next question is where can the compound be bought besides online? Do any of the big chain hardware stores sell it? Thanks for any help

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

If you're planning to use compound on your strop, pretty much any leather will be fine, the tanning method won't matter much. More often than not, the 'natural' color leather will be vegetable-tanned, which is ideal. The colored leather (black, gray, blue, etc.) might be tanned by other means. Just make sure it's as uniform & smooth as you can get. If it isn't, you can sand any surface imperfections out of it, with med/fine grit sandpaper. Obviously, the finer the grit of the sandpaper, the finer the finish on the leather will be. You can suit it to your preference. By the way, I also have a couple pieces of 'Tooling Leather' purchased from Hobby Lobby (3-1/2" x 9-1/4"). I haven't used it for strops yet, but that's what I bought it for. I'm sure it'll be fine.

Woodworking stores (like Woodcraft) carry compounds used for woodworking tools (for steel blades, in other words). I bought my green compound (bar form) at Woodcraft. I also picked up a tube of Simichrome metal polish at the same place, and it works great as a stropping compound. I've heard good things about Mother's Mag Aluminum Polish, used as stropping compound. Auto parts outlets will likely carry that, and you might also find it at some of the big box stores like Walmart.