Strop compounds

kamagong

kamagong

Gold Member
Joined
Jan 13, 2001
Messages
10,937
I finally found a source for all those strop compounds that you guys keep talking about. You know the Jeweler's Rouge and all that good stuff. I'll probably pick up a strop soon from Handamerican. I have a question though. Can anyone tell me the grades of the different compounds, from coarsest to finest?
 
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Start with Tripoli at the coarsest, Jeweler's Rouge next finest and Chromium Oxide as the absolute finest at 10,000 grit. :)

But if you want to limit yourself to 2 strops you have a choice.
1 - Start with Tripol and then the Chrome Oxide.or......
2 - Start with the Jeweler's
Rouge.
Then always finish with the Chrome Oxide if you want a mirror polished edge.

Jeweler's Rouge also makes a pretty good finish strop itself if you like a less polished edge and you only want one strop.
And the Tripol and J.R. is all I have at the moment.
And I will probably make another thin strop for the C.O. since it's rather relaxing to just set and run an already razor sharp knife over and over on such a fine strop while removing very microscopic bits of steel and super polishing the edge.:D
 
Kamagong:

Spill the beans! What are your sources for strop compounds? I've been looking for Rouge & Chromium Oxide locally, but unsuccessfully so far. Did you find it on the web. I found tripoli compound at Northern Hydralics (Chain specialty Store). Thanks!

-Craig
 
I have an add-on question. It seems as though the compounds are color coded (white,red, brown, green). Which color corresponds to which compound. I bought some sticks of compounds from Sears a long time ago but I don't know which is which (the box they came in doesn't say).
 
Josh,

The jewelers rouge is reddish brown, the chromium green. Not sure on the tripoli.

Yvsa will be here to make it all clear.

Blues
 
:
The compounds may not be the same color for every manufacturer.

But my Tripoli is a sorta tan color and changes when put on the strop to more of a brown.
And my Bro Blues is right on with the other 2 colors or at least they're the same color as mine.:)

The Tripoli also has a very gritty "feel" when rubbed between your fingers.
Cougar once mentioned the Tripoli is made
from Diatomaceous earth and I knew that many
home & garden stores sold the material for
bug control so I thought I would get some
and mix it with oil and I would have Tripoli.
Well I did but there is evidently some difference
in the material used to get rid of bugs and
what Tripoli is made from.
The diatomaceous earth I bought is very, very fine,
finer than jewelers rouge even.
And
when mixed with oil and put on a piece of leather,
it was a bear tryin to get it to stay on,
it gave a very nice finish on the edges of sharp blades.

So since I learned a lesson and shared it with y'all now you won't make the same mistake I did.
It's easier to buy the compounds than to try and make your own.:D
 
Cuttin' Craig:

You can find chromium oxide at www.leevalley.com. Go to woodworking, then sharpening, then blade honing compound. It looks sorta like a big square green crayon. Lotsa other neat stuff there, too.
 
Bruce:

Thanks for the LeeValley link. I took a quick look, and it appears I could get my checking account in trouble there!:D

-Craig
 
CC,

Sorry, but I don't know the name of the place. It's a small local operation that I found those compounds in. I stumbled onto it by accident while I was shopping around for GI Joes.:D I was on my way home and saw this lumber yard that also sold woodworking supplies. I walked in and lo and behold, there were the same compounds that I hear Yvsa and the other forumites talking about all the time. Just got lucky I guess.

I'm thinking about making a strop. What do you think the dimensions should be? These will be used with my khukuris.
 
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Kam I like my strops at about 1" to 1 1/8" wide for the khukuris.
Much wider and they don't work as well in the recurve.
And I like the leather about 16"-18" long with a handle exrended from there.

The handle on Either end will
work. :) hehehehehe:D
 
In general, I'd just say "listen to Yvsa" but I'll venture to see if I can add something potentially useful here.

I finally got around recently to making myself a few strops. I bought a couple of straps from the Leather Factory (look for the "Strips, straps, blanks and buckles" product line). I got a 3/4" wide strap and a 3" wide strap for a wide strop. The Leather Factory straps are very thick and seem to be quite reasonably priced in comparison to some of the other sources I found on the net. I then cut a couple of 11" long pieces and glued them on to the edge of an 11" long piece of 1x4. (I made them 11" long because that is the length of a sheet of sandpaper.) For a pure strop that doesn't use sandpaper, you can make it whatever length you like. I mounted the 1x4 edgewise in a somewhat longer piece of 2x4 in which I had ripped a 3/4" wide groove and then clamped the whole thing in a B&D "Workmate". You can do whatever works for you as a way to hold it steady.

I found some 3M "Feathering Disk Adhesive" in a local store. This is a kind of adhesive that is intended for holding and then peeling off sandpaper to a backing disk, but it seems to work pretty well on leather too.:) I haven't yet tried to clean adhesive build-up off the leather, but I think I will try "Goo Gone" when I do need to do that. Goo Gone should be available in your local supermarket and works great for removing the adhesive from all sorts of sticky labels and the like. Anyway, I just use a thin strip that I ripped from the edge of a piece of 1-by as a guide for cutting strips of sandpaper. Yvsa advised that 1-1 1/8" may be a better width, but 3/4" seems to work ok for me and is extremely handy because it matches up with the edge of the 1x4.

With the "strop" or sandpaper held steady this way, I can then move the knife against the abrasive. This seems to work well for me. After basic grinding on my water-cooled sandstone wheel, 220 grit paper seems to be about right as the first step on this "strop" to take out the scratches from the wheel and begin to form the traditional convex edge. YMMV.

I'm still looking for a local source for the tripoli, rouge and especially chromium oxide for the real strop, but the sandpaper on the leather backing is working nicely so far. I found sandpaper up to 2000 grit (for auto painting) in a paint store. I can't say I'm as good as Yvsa or several of our other top sharpening experts, but I'm improving.;)

You will probably find a different combination of ingredients to work for you, but it never hurts to see what others have found.:)

Paul
 
Yvsa,

If I decide to make a strop what kind of leather do you recommend? Does it make a difference? :confused:
 
Snuffy, I'm not Yvsa, but I believe "vegetable tanned" (like the straps I mentioned above) is normally recommended.

Paul
 
Thanks Paul,

I was writing that as you were posting, so I didn't see your comment at first. The reason I asked was I've heard of people using old belts as strops, but all of my old belts seem really stiff and not likely to absorb any of the compound. I'll check for the vegetable tanned stuff as you recommend.
 
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Paul's right on with the advice he gave you.
The oiled "Latigo" leather you can sometimes find at "Tack Shops", places that sell stuff for horses, will work well too although buying pieces already made into something is lots more expensive, but sometimes ya just gotta do what ya gotta do.:)
And sometimes yo can get latigo blanks where you can't find the veggie tanned leather.
And 3/4" will work fine as well there are no hard and fast rules, I just prefer the sizes I gave because they work well on other blades
too.:D
But by all means leave the smooth side out when you glue the leather to the wood.
When I've used sandpaper I have used it on a piece of styrofoam and no troubles slipping.
Taken care of a piece of styrofoam will last quite a long time.:D

Also when I make a strop I will drill about a 3/8" or so hole, whatever I have in a piece of wooden dowel rod, just below the handle and glue a piece of dowel rod that sticks up about 3/4" or so.
It's not necassary, but does add a safety feature to the strop in case something slips when you're using it.
The edge will hit the dowel before it hits your finger.
Something Harry can appreciate.:D

And also remember to use the strop "edge trailing" or the blade will cut your leather.
It's sounds redundant and one would suspect that common sense would tell one that, but I've had the piece of leather with jewelers rouge on it, that I kept in my toolbox at work, cut numerous times by novice sharpeners when I would loan it out without supervision.:(
 
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