Stropping - easy to learn? Decent results?

M

MHall52

Joined
Oct 18, 2008
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I have had only experience stropping but it didn't last long since the strop was a classic and it fell apart on me.
If stropping does add a nice finishing touch, is there a particulary good price on Internet for strops and supplies? Easy to learn??
 
I'm also interested in this shit. I used my belt today but it didn't do much. I'm an idiot though, so that could be part of the problem.
 
You can make an inexpensive strop quite easily. You will need:
1. Paint stick (yes the kind they give away for free when you buy paint:D)
2. A piece of unfinished leather (try your local leather shop or Tandy Leather) about the 8 oz. leather will do. About 12" long x 2" wide.
3. Contact cement.
4. Some buffing compound, the finer finishing stuff (Green or red)

Glue the leather to the stick (apply the cement to the rough side of the leather). When dry trim excess leather usnig stick as a template. Rub the finishing compound on the stick, lay it on fairly thick. With an old rag rub the compound into the leather, it will start to look shiny. You sare set to start stropping.
You can get fancy and make the stick out of some thicker hardwood, like Mr2blue said (or buy one of his , very nice)
Or you can forget all I said and buy a barber's strop:D
 
I just use a piece of leather and some of that green compound stuff and strop on top of a table. There's really no need to glue the leather to some wood other than convenience or in the case of mr2blue's work, you like them fancy (great work BTW mr2blue:thumbup:).

It's pretty easy to learn. Just watch out if your blade finish is highly polished. The strop will leave marks. Other than that, just maintain the same angle throughout the motion and use light pressure as you're finishing it up.
 
MHall52 said:
I have had only experience stropping but it didn't last long since the strop was a classic and it fell apart on me.
If stropping does add a nice finishing touch, is there a particulary good price on Internet for strops and supplies? Easy to learn??
Click to expand...

Stropping is easy, but it's often not needed.

To make a good strop, use a piece of 'vegetable' tanned leather, NOT chrome tanned or oil tanned. The leather sold as 'tooling' leather is fine. (Hobby or crafts supply shops.) The stuff that is found in factory made belts usually isn't. It's the 'silicates' in the leather that actually do the work, and oil or chrome tanning removes or blocks them. If you want to glue the leather down to a piece of wood, that's fine, but not required. Long and thin is better than short and narrow. Something about 12-16" long and about 3-4" thick is perfect. Think "Barber's Strop."

Ideally you should wet down the leather well, let is sit for about an hour, then roll it with a marble or hardwood rolling pin to compress it. Really roll the hell out of it! This helps bring the silicates to the surface of the leather. Then let it dry completely. Then comes the challenge of 'to compound or not to compound.'

Adding a cutting compound to a strop changes how the strop works. Red jeweller's rouge is not the ideal to use as it's much too soft for steel. White or Green will work better. White cuts faster but is a courser grit. Green is perfect for a real dry shaving edge. If you can't find green compound, you can get some green matte barn paint and use that. The same pigment is used in both. (Chromium Oxide) Many wood workers just paint a smooth board and use that to strop their tools.

Apply the compound to the leather, coating it completely but not thickly. And as long as you can see green, there is no need to add more, so don't go out and buy a 2lb bar of the stuff. A bar the size of your thumb should last you for the next 5-10 years. Using a coarse rag, rub the compound into the leather well.

Now, to use the strop, first of USE ALMOST NO PRESSURE!!!!!! The weight of the blade is more than enough to get the job done. ALWAYS STROP WITH A TRAILING EDGE, that is, with the spine of the blade moving forward down the strop and the edge following. Lift the spine just enough so that the edge is in contact with the leather. You can judge this amount by gently sliding the blade edge first while lifting the spine. When it starts to dig, THAT is the angle you want to strop at.

Alternate from side to side with each stroke, being sure to draw the blade from end to end during the stroke to strop the entire length of the blade. 20-30 strokes should be all that is needed to finish a blade.

But... do you really need to strop? Remember that for some cutting, a more aggressive edge is better than a finely polished one. A straight razor is no good for 'slicing' a tomato or a piece of laid rope. A serrated edge does a much better job for slicing. But for 'push cutting' a razor edge is absolutely required. So stop and think of the type of cutting you will be doing with each particular blade. Some you will absolutely want to strop with a 60,000 grit compound such as Chromium Oxide. Others will perform much better coming off an 8,000 grit water stone, and most others work better when finished with a 600 grit diamond or Arkansas stone! Not everything 'needs' to be stropped, but it sure is fun to be able to carve your initials into a strand of hair!

Stitchawl
 
Made my own strop with a piece of 2x4 trimmed down on my table saw, some gorilla glue and a thrift store belt (wish I would have found a wider belt), but built one for $11.00 The glue was 9, and the belt was 2. I had some green sauce. I profile my blades on my Lansky and finish on the strop, and can pop hairs off my arm when I am done. Have not yet been so scary sharp, I can whittle hairs, but I am content (at least right now).....Use your fingernail to find the burr and rotate to the other side, reducing pressure with the final strokes.
 
IMO stropping on clay coated paper/cardboard is the way to go, far less skill is required and it's nearly impossible to round or dull the edge which is very easy to do with a charged leather strop. I've used it on everything from ordinary carbon steels to the high alloy stainlesses like ZDP-189 and CPM 110V with impressive results. Oh, and did I mention? It doesn't have to cost a thing! See this thread for details:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=537085
 
Dog of War said:
IMO stropping on clay coated paper/cardboard is the way to go, far less skill is required and it's nearly impossible to round or dull the edge which is very easy to do with a charged leather strop. I've used it on everything from ordinary carbon steels to the high alloy stainlesses like ZDP-189 and CPM 110V with impressive results. Oh, and did I mention? It doesn't have to cost a thing! See this thread for details:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=537085
Click to expand...

:thumbup:

this works like a charm. you go from really sharp to crazy, hair whittling sharp.
 
If you are using an abrasive compound, you really don't need leather. Just put the compound on the paint stick or a smooth piece of wood.
Leather strops without compound simply pull any microscopic burr off your edge.
 
I bought scrap leather from Tandy. $2.00 got me enough to make several strops.

For compound I use white and red polishing compound from Sears. I think each was less than $5.00.

I do not mount the strops. I simply lay them on the workbench. I then crayon on the white and strop. I then switch strops and use the red.

Works for me.
 
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