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- Apr 7, 2006
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- 5,215
Two years ago, I decided to make a strop and see what everyone was raving about. By that time, I was very proficient on stones and could get a nice sharp edge but kept reading about those atom edges obtained on strops. I had a box of leather scraps sitting around, so I found a piece that was big enough for my strop (12"x4"). I Gorilla Glued the leather to a piece of Marine-Grade plywood I cut out and clamped it for the night. When I got back to the shop in the morning, I unclamped the strop and my heart skipped a beat: I had glued on the leather smooth side down (rough side showing). I was about to start over, but I decided to try it out first. I went to Lowes and bought the green buffing compound, applied a bit of Coleman fuel (aka Naptha aka White Gas) to the leather and painted on the compound. I was able to polish up an edge in no time and haven't looked back. I now strop all of my knives regularly and will give my daily carry a few swipes before going in the drawer. Originally I was very careful about angles, pressure, and number of swipes... I now just hold the knife about so with medium-light pressure and swipe it a few times on each side before checking. I've found stropping to be very forgiving and extremely helpful in bringing the most out of your steel. I read a lot of threads on here about not being able to understand stropping. It's quite simple once you figure it out and it's important not to over-complicate it. Here are a few pointers I've figured out:
-One very important thing to keep in mind is you will not be able to strop a dull edge. You must lay all the groundwork out first and should only start stropping when you already have a nice sharp semi-polished edge.
-If you make a strop, you just need leather, wood, and glue. No need for premium anything, it just has to be flat and hold compound. I like the rough side out because it seems to hold compound better, but YMMV.
-Applying compound: pour about 2 tablespoons of white gas on your strop and wipe it both ways with a white-gas-soaked cloth to clean it. Holding a stick of compound sideways, run it with the grain of the leather (making it smooth) until the strop is green. I put it on heavy and wipe all the extra (shows up as little balls) off with my hand. How much compound? Just color it green and call it good.
-What angle? If you're proficient at stones, you're going to be great at stropping. Many people say angle is critical, I say you have about a 5 degree buffer zone. The strop is soft and forgiving. Use the same angle as sharpening on stones (only push with the spine first).
-What pressure? You don't want to push hard, but things get done faster with a very small amount of pressure. I use a bit more pressure than I just used on my finishing stone, maybe double the weight of the knife. I can tell a difference if I spend forever with VERY light pressure, but it's not that big of a difference and I think I may just be noticing the many number of strokes, not the pressure.
-How many Strokes? If you are just stropping after light use, about 5-10 per side is all that is needed. If you just reprofiled an edge, it may take as many as 50 per side.
I hope this helps someone looking to make a strop!
Here's a picture of my freshly loaded homemade strop:
-One very important thing to keep in mind is you will not be able to strop a dull edge. You must lay all the groundwork out first and should only start stropping when you already have a nice sharp semi-polished edge.
-If you make a strop, you just need leather, wood, and glue. No need for premium anything, it just has to be flat and hold compound. I like the rough side out because it seems to hold compound better, but YMMV.
-Applying compound: pour about 2 tablespoons of white gas on your strop and wipe it both ways with a white-gas-soaked cloth to clean it. Holding a stick of compound sideways, run it with the grain of the leather (making it smooth) until the strop is green. I put it on heavy and wipe all the extra (shows up as little balls) off with my hand. How much compound? Just color it green and call it good.
-What angle? If you're proficient at stones, you're going to be great at stropping. Many people say angle is critical, I say you have about a 5 degree buffer zone. The strop is soft and forgiving. Use the same angle as sharpening on stones (only push with the spine first).
-What pressure? You don't want to push hard, but things get done faster with a very small amount of pressure. I use a bit more pressure than I just used on my finishing stone, maybe double the weight of the knife. I can tell a difference if I spend forever with VERY light pressure, but it's not that big of a difference and I think I may just be noticing the many number of strokes, not the pressure.
-How many Strokes? If you are just stropping after light use, about 5-10 per side is all that is needed. If you just reprofiled an edge, it may take as many as 50 per side.
I hope this helps someone looking to make a strop!
Here's a picture of my freshly loaded homemade strop:
