My First ever hand made strop

Volfather said:
By far the leather is the most expensive part. The sheet i used for this stop was 10 x 15 inches. The biggest part for me is i wanted a strop heavy enough to lay down to get both hands on the blade. and none on the handle so i can control the edge more like Mr. Kramer does his stropping.
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Where did u get ur leather? That was my next ? :)
 
I see Skystorm's point about flesh side out with split top grain leather. That leaves a surface that is a bit grainy to hold the compound, but without the ragged finish of non-split leather. Guess I'll have to reverse mine now. If you're looking for the leather, try a Tandy Store if possible, and look through their random size bin for leather that has a fine grain finish on the rough side. I don't think the leather needs to be really thick, just enough to cushion. Another option would be saddle shops for scrap leather. I'd be happy to supply 7/8oz. veg-tan strips for strops at my cost which is $9.50/sq.ft. Shoot me a pm if interested.
 
Rick, I keep one of each. Rough side out works for most everything but if you want that last little bit of mirror polish then finish off with the smooth side and ultra fine compound. I usually don't have that much patience with stropping :D quick run on an fine/ultrafine stones and I am good.
I used to click and split several sizes of rectangles for strops for people but got tired of explaining to folks why I won't use cheap leathers from Tandy/craft stores.

Rick Lowe said:
I see Skystorm's point about flesh side out with split top grain leather. That leaves a surface that is a bit grainy to hold the compound, but without the ragged finish of non-split leather. Guess I'll have to reverse mine now. If you're looking for the leather, try a Tandy Store if possible, and look through their random size bin for leather that has a fine grain finish on the rough side. I don't think the leather needs to be really thick, just enough to cushion. Another option would be saddle shops for scrap leather. I'd be happy to supply 7/8oz. veg-tan strips for strops at my cost which is $9.50/sq.ft. Shoot me a pm if interested.
Click to expand...
 
I'm right with you, Sky, on the stones and then quick strop. I use a Lansky with fine stone to get the edge just turned and then fine green compound to remove that for the final edge. I'm going to make one more strop with the flesh side out to see how it works.

Ditto on the cheap leather, even for strops.
 
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