Strop

got an old leather belt? there ya go:D

My personal favorite is an old scrap piece of leather i use for making sheathes that has had jewelers compound rubbed into it. it'll polish an edge to hair-popping. You can also use Dremmel polish if its easier to stop by Lowes:D
 
I would suggest you make your own. Leather strips are available from Tandy via the big river site in 2 and 3" wide strips (50" long). That's long enough for more than a couple strops.
 
22-rimfire do you have a link? And what are we looking at for price? Is any polish needed with those strips?
 
22-rimfire said:
I would suggest you make your own. Leather strips are available from Tandy via the big river site in 2 and 3" wide strips (50" long). That's long enough for more than a couple strops.
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You can make your own easy, but Tandy also carries finished strops. Not expensive. Leather mounted on wooden paddle, smooth on one side, rough on the other.
 
Just google "tandy leather supplies" and you should see a big river listing as well as other options. I would mount smooth leather side on one side of your board and rough on the other... maybe 14-15" long (laptop width).... you judge. 2" should be wide enough.

You should see the polish compound also listed as when you go to the big river site. Green is extra fine.

Strops really aren't all that expensive already made.
 
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I carved one out of scrap moulding and glued a piece of an old belt to it. Cheap as one can get. And you get to use your knife instead of opening letters and cutting apples etc.
 
Steely_Gunz said:
got an old leather belt? there ya go:D
Click to expand...

I asked a barber how much for a strop. He said $150.
That's the same price as a Svord fixed.
Sharpening steel, then oiled (mini)-whetstone, then diamond stick then old leather belt. Sorted.
 
All my strops were bought as leather belts at an ARC store. Glued one and pasted it to a 2x2 I got out of a roll off from a construction sight, use one hanging from my towel bar.
 
It doesn't get cheaper than wrapping a sheet of paper around your bench stone and dosing it with compound. You can add/remove sheets to get the amount of wrap you want, change the finish on the edge etc. When it loads up, replace it.

Paper.jpg
 
That's good advice from HH. I thought I was going to have the super cheap option, but I think he beat me.

My first strops where cardboard. I cut them from a box with thin walls, so they wouldn't "squash". Then I bought a stick of green compound from Northern Tool, for around $2 or $3. Green compound (questionable in how fine it was) on cardboard was surprisingly good! It made a difference in my edges back then.

These days I don't strop much. But it's still a useful skill when sharpening, especially if your deburring technique isn't perfect yet.

Brian.
 
My usual "go cheap" suggestion is to make use of that Yellow Pages that usually sits in the bottom of a drawer until it gets tossed. Open to your favorite section, rub on some rouge (or even squirt on some auto scratch-out compound polish), and go to work. When done, tear out the page and you still have 1000 more uses until the next book shows up.
 
I got free canvas samples from big duck canvas, and loaded em up with red compound, white compound, and 0.3 micron polish I have. I just write in sharpie on the back whatever has been applied and put them on top of a wood board. They let me strop wherever I am, because I can roll them up and put them in a pocket. About 4"x6" in size. I have about three dozen swatches of various colors.

Connor
 
Alright well thank you for the answers, I broke my belt so now I have a genuine leather belt that is black on one side and brown on the other can I start stropping or do I need to put something on the leather, remove the finish, and so on.? Thanks
 
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