Of Palm Strops (& Rotten Bananas)

[AFAustin]

Recently, Kevin (richstag) had a very generous giveaway, the prize being a beautiful handmade strop he crafted, and Johnny Twoshoes was the lucky winner. What struck me about the strop, aside from its obvious quality and good looks, was that it was designed to fit comfortably in the palm. I had been told that a strop (or hone, as some prefer) should always be used lying flat on a bench or table, to better assure a consistent angle on the blade. But I had found myself often picking up my strops anyway, and tilting the angle a bit as I stropped through the curve of a knife. It made sense to me, and it felt comfortable and right, especially with small knives like traditional folders.

So, I was determined to come up with something palm sized to try out. While I would love to have something of quality like Kevin's creation, I have neither the talent nor the tools to do it right. But, I wasn't going to let that stop me! So, last week as I was walking my dog (Mia the rescue pointer in my avatar), and contemplating all this, I noticed a small piece of wood on the roadside. I picked it up, and when I got home, paired it with a strip of scrap leather that was salvage from an old pair of boots I'd worn out. Once the glue had dried, I striped on some Bark River green and gave it a whirl---not bad! I had never tried a strop with suede leather before, but it seems to do alright, and it holds the compound well. A day or two later, I decided a bare strip would be a good addition to finish on (and clean off any compound residue), so I added a second strip on the adjoining side, this time using the smoother side of the leather. I sanded the rough edges of the wood block for all of about 5 minutes, and done.

You know, it's not going to win any beauty pageants, but this little palm strop is functional, and has reinforced my suspicion that, especially for small knives, this is not a bad way to go. And the cost---about 10 cents for glue and a little compound.

So, here is my little crude palm strop posing with my newest acquistion (which did, I'm afraid, cost more than 10 cents): a GEC Northfield #66 serpentine jack in rotten banana bone. I had wanted one of these ever since I saw lambertiana's great pics of his in this thread: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...-vs-GEC-56-Dog-Leg-Jack-vs-66-Serpentine-Jack I had problems locating one, at a decent price anyway, but finally got lucky and, with the help of a kind dealer, snagged it. I'm pleased as punch with it, as Hubert Humphrey used to say, but its attributes are worthy of another thread, so I'll leave it at that for now.

Anyway, thanks to Kevin for the strop inspiration (and to lambertiana for the banana inspiration!).

Andrew

 

[richstag]

That's awesome Austin! Great job

You should see my strop...a piece of scrap cedar rough finsihed with a piece of leather on top. I don't even use a fancy one. All of the nicer ones I have made I have given away.

Btw, if the leather ever gets cut up you can resurface it with 600 grit sandpaper on a flat block of wood or glass. A good way to apply compound even and to get it to get into the leather is with a buffer. Since you don't have a shop you could get a cotton wheel for a hand drill to do this.

Congrats!

Palm wood is beautiful.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

:thumbup:
All of my strop blocks are sized similarly (~5-1/2" x 2-1/2" x 1/2" red oak, and leather), for the same reason. I've made three of them, each with different compounds. I did make one that's bench-sized, but I've hardly used it. I also have a 'pocket-sized' strop block, of a smaller piece of red oak and fairly thick, very firm leather. I've put 1 micron diamond paste on both sides. Lately, that's the one I've been using the most. All of my freehand habits were built on using a Spyderco DoubleStuff pocket hone, which I used held in one hand, while honing the blade with the other. That's what my hands 'learned', so virtually all my hones & strops used since have been chosen, made and used on that basis.

Functionality is what it's all about. I've also used some balsa blocks with printer paper wrapped around them (stapled in place), with compound applied to the paper. The first time I did this was basically a fluke. I'd just applied some diamond paste to one of my 'real' strop blocks, and didn't want to waste the excess compound. Grabbed a piece of paper to wipe the compound on, then looked for a suitable flat 'object' to use that on; the balsa block was just 'there'. Spur-of-the-moment, dirt cheap and infinitely simple. Works great.

 

[AFAustin]

David, thanks for your comments. I respect your knowledge, so this further confirms my impression that a hand held sharpener can have real advantages.

Andrew

 

[Will Power]

Very good thread thanks! Andrew, your notion of a hand held strop makes a lot of sense and I think your skills are fine (you should see MY incompetence with such matters ) I admit I've never yet tried stropping, all this use of different compounds has me a bit confused i think it's associated (wrongly)in my mind with the complexities of convex edges. It's also quite expensive to get the compounds here in Europe and the wooden bats look quite large etc. Will any leather do? Must do some thinking......

Main thing is the knife! I've been after one for ages but the shipping costs were an extortion. I really like the look of that bone and those slant bolsters, a dealer told me they were slow sellers but I think GEC need to do another range of knives in this bone it's very attractive.

Well done! Will

 

[johnny twoshoes]

I don't know how he did it, but Kevin hand fitted the strop he made for me, it's perfect. I have really changed the quality of my edge by using this strop, I love how it adds that extra bite, that scariness. :thumbup:

I call it Kevin's Coffee Strop, because it wakes up all of my knives.

You have made a beautiful Strop and have acquired a wonderful knife, congrats to the both. :thumbup:

 

[Thalestin]

Looks functional to me. That is what traditional knives are all about. Imperfect charm at its finest

 

[AFAustin]

Thanks, gents, for all the comments. Johnny, thanks for those pics of your strop from Kevin---it looks great.

Andrew

 

[coyote711]

What a great thread! An old piece of wood found by the roadside and leather from an old pair of boots ... amazing what a little ingenuity and stick-to-itiveness will accomplish. Same principles Kevin used to make that wonderful strop he gifted to Johnny! Very cool, guys!

As a side-note, I probably do 95% of my honing and stropping (hand held) sitting here in my recliner (I use the stones dry). I've got a few pieces on my workbench in the garage and by the utility sink in the basement for when I want to use water and a drop of dish soap, or WD40, or whatever. But hand held works just fine for me.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

What a great thread! An old piece of wood found by the roadside and leather from an old pair of boots ... amazing what a little ingenuity and stick-to-itiveness will accomplish. Same principles Kevin used to make that wonderful strop he gifted to Johnny! Very cool, guys!

As a side-note, I probably do 95% of my honing and stropping (hand held) sitting here in my recliner (I use the stones dry). I've got a few pieces on my workbench in the garage and by the utility sink in the basement for when I want to use water and a drop of dish soap, or WD40, or whatever. But hand held works just fine for me.

That's a favorite aspect for me also, in using hand-held hones & strops. When I was first learning to strop correctly, I spent many evenings in my comfy chair, after a good dinner and sippiing a glass of wine (or two ) and watching TV, all while stropping away on the store-bought 4-sided strop block in the palm of my left hand. That block was very similar to the one Andrew pictured in the OP, albeit with a 'handle' added (which I didn't use). One of the most relaxing ways I can think of, to learn the craft. :thumbup:

 

[coyote711]

Thanks for your reply, David. I've sorta, kinda felt like a lazy bum for doing it this way, but from my reading in the Maint. sub-forum I've come to respect your knowledge and experience. Cool - I don't feel so lazy anymore ..... I'm efficient!

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Thanks for your reply, David. I've sorta, kinda felt like a lazy bum for doing it this way, but from my reading in the Maint. sub-forum I've come to respect your knowledge and experience. Cool - I don't feel so lazy anymore ..... I'm efficient!

Thank you Keith.

Work smarter (and 'comfy-er'), not harder. That's getting to be the motto I (attempt to) aspire to.

No reason to feel bad about lookin' lazy, if the results are paying off. I can't help but notice, the people who seem to be the best at their chosen craft are always the ones who never seem to break a sweat doing it, and sometimes look as if they're barely expending any energy. Makes me envious.