Stroping issues

L

Lyndino

Joined
Feb 22, 2022
Messages
84
Hey all
I recently bought a leather strop kit from Amazon and I'm a little confused if I'm doing it right. I've looked online and can't find anything related to what my issue is.
The leather came with a stick of green compound and when I drag the compound on the smooth leather it doesn't apply evenly. Some thicker glob like patches here and minor discoloration of the leather elsewhere.
After I've done a touch up on a Smith's 750 diamond grit stone I will proceed to the next step.
I've tried a few different inexpensive blades by dragging the blade spine first with little to no pressure and what's happening is it looks like green candle wax is collecting along the edge.

Is this normal?
I can upload pics later if it helps.

Also, the compound on the strop looks like globs of melted wax after.
 
The stick compounds are a wax-bound product, so this sort of thing happens with them.

There are a number of ways to deal with it. Some have warmed the compound prior to application, to melt the wax a bit so it applies a little more evenly. Can also lightly sand the leather surface to give it a velvety texture - that does a better job in scrubbing the compound from the stick as it's applied. When I've used green stick compound on leather, that's how I've done it - the result is pictured below on one of my homemade strop blocks. Don't have to apply it heavily, either. Just 'tinting' the sanded leather to a light green color is enough.

For sanding the leather, some rather coarse garnet or aluminum oxide sandpaper at 100-grit or so will do a good job - that's the sort usually made for use on wood. And the grit is large enough that if some of it comes off the paper, it's easily detected and can easily be wiped/cleaned from the strop surface. Other sandpapers, like SiC wet/dry type, are friable (prone to breaking down into fine dust) which is much more troublesome as a contaminant on the strop surface. Don't want to use it for this purpose.
K1i0kor.jpg
 
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The gummy / clumpy compound can be cleaned up a bit by moistening a rag or paper towel with WD-40 and using that to scrub the surface. The heavy stuff will be removed, and what's left of the compound will also be thinned a little bit so you can spread it around a little more evenly. This also works well for times when you might over-apply the compound and want to remove the excess - which otherwise is the stuff that gets scraped off the strop onto the edge of your blade. Don't spray the WD-40 directly onto the strop - it'll oversoak the leather and might also loosen the bond underneath, depending on how it's glued to the block.
 
I strop on the rough (flesh) side of the leather. I use a single edge razor blade (held near 90 degrees to the leather) to scrape a strop clean. Works great.

I have a couple of other (homemade) strops with the smooth (hair) side of the leather facing up, but I've yet to use them.
 
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Why recommendations for a better compound. I doubt the leather and compound for $9 is high grade stuff.
 
Lyndino said:
Why recommendations for a better compound. I doubt the leather and compound for $9 is high grade stuff.
Click to expand...
These stick-type compounds are essentially made for electric buffers, and the use of them on smooth leather is less than ideal. An electric buffing wheel heats and softens the compound as it's rubbed against the spinning wheel, so it applies better there. The relative inexpense of the compound isn't necessarily an indicator of poor quality. That price range is pretty typical for it - even for decent quality.

Having said that, these stick compounds also apply more easily on something like canvas, linen or denim used as a strop with a hard backing. The weave of the fabric gives it enough texture to take and hold more of the wax-based compound. So it applies more evenly and to a greater density, which makes such a strop more aggressive as a polisher. So, even if it doesn't take well to a smooth leather strop, you might experiment using it on a fabric strop instead.

Depending on which steel types you're stropping, that might be better reason to look for a different compound. High-wear steels with a lot of hard carbide content would benefit more from something other than green compound, which is better-suited to simpler steels like 1095, CV, 420HC. High-wear steels respond better to diamond or cbn compounds, for example, which are usually found in either a paste or liquid emulsion - both of which will apply much more easily to leather and other materials, either wiped on (paste) or sprayed on (liquid).
 
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I watched a video of someone treating a strop and they used a heat gun to warm the leather to make the compound flow better. Not sure if a heat gun may burn the leather, but I thing some are adjustable.
 
no need to remove. Use some mineral oil , can be applied semi liberally, and light to medium pressure swirl so as to warm up the compound and soon you will have a nice slurry, bobs you uncle you will be done.
Al least that’s what I have done. What does the community say
 
Lyndino said:
Why recommendations for a better compound. I doubt the leather and compound for $9 is high grade stuff.
Click to expand...
after testing on everything from 1-5 oz various leather, flesh and grain sides, duck/cotton canvas, multiple variations of materials like true microfiber cloth used typically by the slingshot community for pouches, various papers and cardstock, as well as the closest copys i could find of nano cloth.... while testing maybe 6 materials from hobby lobby(crap) ive determined for me cardboard paper stock like the inside of a cereal box and or a decent paper stock allows for newcomers to see the slightly added benefit of stropping without convexing the apex. once well versed its almost that stropping is only good for getting a slight convex on your edge for shaving or slicing paper. even when cooking youll lose the edge fairly quickly, depending on you degree per side you shapen at before the strop... as well as how thick your blade is towards the edge. a thin blade cuts way longer than the wider dps. application is usually crutial for what you do with your sharp edges... its fun going down the rabbit hole, and ive made my own diamond pastes from 200 grit all the way to 100k. diamond powder and petrolium jelly work well together and if you apply it to paper and glue the paper down right without creating a bunch of high and low spots you can apply the diamond or stick compounds to it and add some heat and it will absorb in and almost dry leaving the compound itself on the surface to be pressed into the substrate. others who have commented are correct though. depending on what you apply to.... you have the chance of weakening the bond between the leather and the backer substrate its mounted to. i fully cover my paper strop surface in double sided banner hem tape and apply it flat to aluminum stock. it keeps it perfectly flat while it wont let go of the bond using a petrolium product. all depends on your skill and practice. some people love a delicate hand on thicker materials. i like a medium edge trail on super thin material so i keep my edge crisp without having to play the use only knife weight game etc. also you could add mineral oil/rendered fat etc. to your stick compound cut into shavings to create a paste. theres a whole lot of things you can try and be successful with most of them with practice and patience.
 
wow great post 311,
I will have to try metal backing plate and paper stock. I've use thin hide on planed wood. I can see how your preferred setup would be firmer and more consistent and even. all this time I thought that the slight give in the leather hide was in my favor for that stopping was, maybe I and incorrect in my presumption. maybe I have to step up my stropping game.
I use stropping more as maintenance of a blade edge (ie give me more time before I have to take my blade to a stone )vs getting the ultimate edge
 
Ciscocbc said:
wow great post 311,
I will have to try metal backing plate and paper stock. I've use thin hide on planed wood. I can see how your preferred setup would be firmer and more consistent and even. all this time I thought that the slight give in the leather hide was in my favor for that stopping was, maybe I and incorrect in my presumption. maybe I have to step up my stropping game.
I use stropping more as maintenance of a blade edge (ie give me more time before I have to take my blade to a stone )vs getting the ultimate edge
Click to expand...
Something you may find interesting, even if you don't go there, but is still an interesting subject. In this thread go to the search engine and type in Casing Leather for strops. There are lots of posts from some very experienced members. :thumbsup:
 
For awhile, I used a dry chromium oxide powder obtained at a lapidary hobby shop and mixed with mineral oil to 'paint' onto some MDF (medium density fiberboard) for use as a strop. That makes for the most even application and very dense coverage. On MDF or other hard, flat substrates, it makes for a nice polisher without much risk of rounding the bevels by compression of the substrate. The powder is messy to work with though, doing it that way. And you don't want it getting airborne in the powder form - it's a hazard to the lungs. The piece in the middle of the stack in the pic below is the strop I used on things like wood chisels - it worked very well. The smaller piece of MDF on top was another small strop loaded with some white rouge stick compound, just 'crayoned' onto the MDF. That worked well enough for quick edge tuneups of stainless steel blades as well.
DzJa0zK.jpg
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
For awhile, I used a dry chromium oxide powder obtained at a lapidary hobby shop and mixed with mineral oil to 'paint' onto some MDF (medium density fiberboard) for use as a strop. That makes for the most even application and very dense coverage. On MDF or other hard, flat substrates, it makes for a nice polisher without much risk of rounding the bevels by compression of the substrate. The powder is messy to work with though, doing it that way. And you don't want it getting airborne in the powder form - it's a hazard to the lungs. The piece in the middle of the stack in the pic below is the strop I used on things like wood chisels - it worked very well. The smaller piece of MDF on top was another small strop loaded with some white rouge stick compound, just 'crayoned' onto the MDF. That worked well enough for quick edge tuneups of stainless steel blades as well.
DzJa0zK.jpg
Click to expand...
i agree with keeping all compounds in a paste or liquid. i wouldnt dare strop with pure diamond powder. its already creepy enough watching how much gets airborn just pouring it into my resin bonded stones. for how heavy the stuff is it can still float pretty well
 
Ciscocbc said:
wow great post 311,
I will have to try metal backing plate and paper stock. I've use thin hide on planed wood. I can see how your preferred setup would be firmer and more consistent and even. all this time I thought that the slight give in the leather hide was in my favor for that stopping was, maybe I and incorrect in my presumption. maybe I have to step up my stropping game.
I use stropping more as maintenance of a blade edge (ie give me more time before I have to take my blade to a stone )vs getting the ultimate edge
Click to expand...
i used to try and use stropping as a maintenance tool but found i prefer keening up on a 1000ish grit stone. hell sometimes i just use a quick few passes on my 230 grit diamond resin stones or my 1000 grit ones. for me i agree with most who try to take it up to mirror finish, eventually the edge is just too fine for my practial uses. now i just usually stop at 2300 diamond resin stones and might strop with some 10k till i polish and then come back do a few high light angle passes on the 2300 1000 or 230, so i still have a nice finish but i rough up the apex without creating a visible to the naked eye second or third bevel. after all the damn stropping, i realized for me it was only because like most of us. its like zen to have something to do and play with, ive never had any high end steels so im sure stropping on those might yield a longer cutting life. when i strop for maintenance i always did see improvement over its just recent state....but my improvements were in slicing paper and shaving hair or hair whittling. most the time that edge was too fine for me.... fun as shit but yeah a little too fine. it works for maintenance but if i were a gambing man id guess after alot of testing, most of us would prefer the edge that comes from a stone... most people think you just mill away material from the blade but hell i am a sign guy. i sharpen a olfa sv2 or whatnot every single day and it takes a few months till i taper that blade down and its about 1/16-1/32 thick of a snap off blade. i only lose about 1/8th inch in height of the blade sharpening literally everyday and sometimes i just touch it up when its already sharp out of bordom. ymmv of course! sharpening is a blast so dont let me dicourage anybody! rabbit holes are fun to explore.
 
Triple_D said:
I strop on the rough (flesh) side of the leather. I use a single edge razor blade (held near 90 degrees to the leather) to scrape a strop clean. Works great.

I have a couple of other (homemade) strops with the smooth (hair) side of the leather facing up, but I've yet to use them.
Click to expand...
This is what I do! I heat up the leather surface and then apply the stopping compound. It seems to work well for me.
 
I heat my strop in a microwave for about 30 seconds before applying the wax-based green compound. The warm leather melts the wax and the compound soaks into the leather and does not clump up. Works well for me.
 
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