Strop by Busse

That's really nice, but it's like over 70 bucks?

I got a real nice adjustable strop for way less than that. That type of a strop is awesome though. I think mine is the best sharpening thing I got.
 
I can't imagine it would do anything better than the ones we all put together at the MWKK with Warren's materials. What did ours cost? Maybe a buck each?

I guess this is another thing I just don't understand... :confused:

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Nasty said:
I can't imagine it would do anything better than the ones we all put together at the MWKK with Warren's materials. What did ours cost? Maybe a buck each?

I guess this is another thing I just don't understand... :confused:

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I love my "Warren Strop" but my adjustable one IS better for putting a good convex edge on something because with the tensioning thing it works more like a belt sander, ie more "give" so it can conform to the edge a little more.
 
yeah...I saw it when Jerry posted it...looks very interesting.

I strop with the leather against the platen....stropping in the slack area takes a lot longer and is harder to control. I also split a belt that way once.....:footinmou (ouch!)

I'm not saying this won't work - I'm sure it will, or else Busse wouldn't be selling it. I just have different personal preferences.
 
Daniel Koster said:
yeah...I saw it when Jerry posted it...looks very interesting.

I strop with the leather against the platen....stropping in the slack area takes a lot longer and is harder to control. I also split a belt that way once.....:footinmou (ouch!)

I'm not saying this won't work - I'm sure it will, or else Busse wouldn't be selling it. I just have different personal preferences.
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Dan, I have an old barber strop that I paid $35 that I described here long ago. Just the thing for straight razors, but on big blades it is harder to use because you have to pull on the handle to give it tension, and the other end needs to be screwed to your workbench which limits where you can use it. It obviously has no platen. It has a slick finish on one side and a coarse on the other, and the overall quality is no longer that great. Because of the give, or maybe because of the way I am sharpening, I have not done that well with the big khuks on it. (Stropping on it up and down from top to bottom the way a barber would use it.)

I was thinking of getting this one from Busse, but then making my own platen by getting a block of wood and then dadoing a deep groove down the middle to accomodate the screw device shown. Then I could pop the platen in and out as needed. Do you think it would work? The downside is the platen would not be fixed to the leather; it would support it, but the leather would not be fastened to the wood. Don't know if that is an issue.

Ideally this will be a stop gap only, as I am looking at various belt sharpeners for sale in Blade magazine, and I guess leather belts are available for most of those. But that is a separate thread as I need to undertand what is the purpose of the various sized wheels that can be bought, etc.

Thanks,

Norm
 
personally, unless you're sold on the Busse name (no offense), I'd just get one of these:


70m0350s2.jpg



http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=32999&cat=1,43072
 
My strop looks a bit like the one you posted Dan - except I think it's made from a scrap of old push-stick. :D I also prefer a bit narrower for khuks - helps me follow the contours a bit better.
 
I made two in different sizes...1/2 x 1/2 x 10 plus handle and the other 1/2 x 2 x 10 plus handle.

Just cut and ground to shape, leather glued on rough up on th elarge, smooth up on the small...use them with green and white respectively.

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The leather itself glued on wood like the one from Lee Valley has just enough give to maintain a convex edge.
If a person wanted more give they could first glue down a strip of rubber and then the leather on top of it.
Methinks for double the price of $70.00 you could get a cheap belt sander.
 
An old mouse pad, a piece of scrap plywood, and a couple of spring paperclips... Send me $70 and it's yours :D Please add $9.95 postage and handling ;)
 
Guess I am a bit confused...which is not unusual. Wouldn't a wider strop be better for our khuks.? I mean, why not get a 4"x8" piece of leather and use it on a mouse pad for stropping. The narrower widths look fine for the 2-6" typical knife blade...dunno. Anyway, getting a larger piece of leather was going to be my plan. Help?

Jeff
 
that would be ok if a khukuri was flat and not curved. When you try to strop the recurve, it'll get hung-up.
 
I guess now is as good a time as any to show off the Satori Strop:

strop.jpg


Materials include:

- An old piece of leather work belt salvaged from a pile of junk.
- A black emery cake from Sears. (Stropping compound, sort of.)
- The occasional drop of Ballistol to keep everything supple.
- A 2x4" screwed to the side of my work bench as platen.
- A nail to anchor the end of the "strop."

By grabbing the free end and holding it in place, I have a strop with a platen; if I hold it taut in the air, I have a barber-style strop. It does the job. As to how well it does the job I couldn't tell you, as this is my first strop. The price was right however.

Agreed with Dan about the width - same deal for your stones, belts, sandpaper strips, or whatever it is that you're going to sharpen with. It took me a few tries to figure that out. :)
 
Nasty said:
I made two in different sizes...1/2 x 1/2 x 10 plus handle and the other 1/2 x 2 x 10 plus handle.

Just cut and ground to shape, leather glued on rough up on th elarge, smooth up on the small...use them with green and white respectively.

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Click to expand...

Nasty, what is your logic on this? Why not make both the same as the larger size and just use different compounds? What is the advantage to having a smaller contact surface with the finer compound?

Also, I thought that the green was a finer compound than the white rouge?

Thanks for any information!

Norm
 
I used to have a bandsawed out piece of 2x4 with a belt nailed on to make a bow shape. I would load the belt with compound, clamp the 2x4 in a vice and strop away. The only problem was that the belt stretched and lost tension after a while.

The busse strop looks interesting in that it looks like the metal pieces can adjust to overcome the stretching.
 
Svashtar said:
Nasty, what is your logic on this? Why not make both the same as the larger size and just use different compounds? What is the advantage to having a smaller contact surface with the finer compound?

Also, I thought that the green was a finer compound than the white rouge?

Thanks for any information!

Norm
Click to expand...

The Green runs 80 to 400, the White 150 to 400 but is a softer compound. *I* percieve a difference between them, and this was also the way I was taught when being trained as a toolmaker. I also use Tripoli (Red) on my power buffer only...rougher work and, believe it or not, also for polishing the high grade hand made smoking pipes I collect.

In using them for strops this was reiterated by Warren and Dan...and once you actually see one of their blades in person, you believe! My edges are not in Dan's category...but they are sharp.

A quick mention is needed, I believe, of the fact that there are different *kinds* of sharp. I once put what I considered a fine edge on a blade for a very knowledgeable friend...he said he sharpened it when he got it. I put the same degree of edge on another for a different person you know well, and he says it is extremely sharp and hasn't touched it (and he has the skills to and then some).

The edge I put on each was what *I* thought the edge should be...not a show edge (which is awesome and must be seen to believe...like Dan's competition edge) but rather a working edge with a bit of tooth to them. I generally put a sturdy edge on a chopper, with some tooth so as to bite in and not slice. I try to put a slice edge on a cutter for the opposite reason...I want it to slice through and not dig in.

A variety of knives calls for a variety of edges...whittling, cutting flesh, chopping, etc.

The different grits/compounds are what allow these differences, along with blade geometry.

If you were to tell me in advance what you were going to test it on...I could probably give you an edge you expect...otherwise, you get what *I* think the edge should be.

Hope this makes sense... :confused:

ps: I like the different sizes because I use these on different knives...I always have a tool I can use for the job at hand and by the time I get to the small White one, I am more praying over it than anything else anyway :D

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My strop is 6" x 0.75". I found the larger ones too clumsy. Or maybe I'm the clumsy one. :confused:

Total cost, maybe 3 or 4 bux if you use fancy wood. :D

Plus you can stuff one in a pack fairly easily.
 
I think a home made strop contest would be fun.

Would anyone like to participate? I would be willing to find a prize, perhaps one of Bruise's indulgences could be arranged...

Not a formal offer, but I just wanted to test the waters so to say...
 
go for it, 45-70. Sounds like a good idea and a lot of fun.
 
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