strop?

S

seanystrangle

Joined
Oct 1, 2009
Messages
374
anyone know where to get a good strop and compound? or would an old leather purse, my wife no longer uses, cut up work?
 
Last edited:
I went and bought some leather from a saddle maker and made my own. It is better if the leather is nice and thick.
 
Carolina River Rat said:
Slightly unrelated, but what's the difference, aside from color, in the various stropping compounds?
Click to expand...
The colors denote the size of abrasive particles. Kind of like sand paper. Google metal polishing compound colors to read what colors are made for a particular purpose.
I akso know that not all compounds are created equal and the brand name is important.
 
milani74 said:
The colors denote the size of abrasive particles. Kind of like sand paper. Google metal polishing compound colors to read what colors are made for a particular purpose.
I akso know that not all compounds are created equal and the brand name is important.
Click to expand...

Thank ye kindly.
 
JRE Industries sells the stropbat,which is a 4 sided strop.They also sell the compounds,I am really diggin' my stropbat,just got one for Christmas.
 
Carolina River Rat said:
Slightly unrelated, but what's the difference, aside from color, in the various stropping compounds?
Click to expand...

often the quality of the compound will vary. Some will have more chromium oxide (or what ever the particular compound uses for cutting), which will make the compound work better.

But honestly, I use some hardware store compound on a ghetto home made strop and it works just fine.

I have three grades, but I only ever use the #6 (red top, but the compound is green. It is really cheap, and I am sure not near as good as the quality stuff, but heck, I get my knives hair popping sharp with it.

IMG_0990.jpg


Here is the factory edge after just a bit of stropping. (it is convexed now, and the reverse curve is gone).

IMG_0993.jpg


you can convex an edge by just stropping. It will take a really long time. If you just use the knife and touch up on a strop (and give some strokes to each side higher up on the bevel, you will get a convex edge with a blended transition).

IMG_1291.jpg


Stropping any edge will make it a bit convex by its very nature. If you hit your edges on a normal stone, or with a fixed angle sharpener and then just finish it on a strop it will still be pretty v shaped.

You can convex an edge on a stone, and infact do a full convex grind on something as big as a sword (which is how the tradition full convex grind is accomplished on Samurai swords).

IMG_1937.jpg


here are some cuts from a 10 inch chopper with a convex edge. Nice clean cuts.

IMG_1984.jpg

IMG_1962.jpg

IMG_1966.jpg

IMG_1964.jpg

IMG_2569.jpg



this was my practice knife. First one I tried.
IMG_1064.jpg


these were all convexed by hand. The bigger ones took a while.
 
Last edited:
Your wifes purse is not strop leather and nither is a belt, trust me there is a big difference. Thickness of the leather is a mute point too because its more about how much "give" the surface has, something that's more related
to the stiffness/hardness of the leather.

Standard compounds work ok but nothing compares to diamond compound.

Good sources would be,
classicshaving.com for amex paste
knifecenter.com for DMT paste
handamerican.com for liquid spray (by far the best)
 
I make my own and have never had a problem but I don't sharpen straight razors either. If you are going to use a straight razor then but a real good strop but a 1/8 - 1/4 inch field blade then I don't think you need an expensive strop. I have a half side of thick leather and a couple of friends use the strops I made them with no ill effects. Just my2 pennies.
 
lee valley has strops and the compound. iam in canada, so i do not know if you
have lee valley stores in the states.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top