stropping leather?

[Ben Dover]

I use horse butt and kangaroo both with and without compound.

.25 or .1 micron diamond spray on 'roo will give you on awesome polish.

 

[stitchawl]

Oh my gosh! First I learned about different steels for knives, then I found that I need properly sharpen them, then I found that I need to study the theory of ceramics and grids and oils and ... that was not it. Now I need to learn about leathers !!! So my belt will not work and I need to look for veg treated kangaroo strip of leather?

Your belt WILL work. So will your jeans, and so will the palm of your hand.
The difference will be how effectively and efficiently they will work.
The reality is that a well-made strop of high quality shell cordovan horsehide will strop an edge nicely with about 8-10 passes of the blade, while your old belt might take 16-20 passes to achieve the same edge. Despite the hype, Kangaroo leather is no better (or worse) than horsehide, and usually a lot more expensive. Both are better than cowhide, but again, just by a few less strokes of the blade. They ALL will give the same edge if they are properly made. No better. No worse. Of course, with shell cordovan horsehide, ya get bragging rights.


Stitchawl

 

[Barmaley]

Your belt WILL work. So will your jeans, and so will the palm of your hand.
The difference will be how effectively and efficiently they will work.
The reality is that a well-made strop of high quality shell cordovan horsehide will strop an edge nicely with about 8-10 passes of the blade, while your old belt might take 16-20 passes to achieve the same edge. Despite the hype, Kangaroo leather is no better (or worse) than horsehide, and usually a lot more expensive. Both are better than cowhide, but again, just by a few less strokes of the blade. They ALL will give the same edge if they are properly made. No better. No worse. Of course, with shell cordovan horsehide, ya get bragging rights.


Stitchawl

Thank you Stitchawl,

It was very encouraging! I already was trying to figure out whose jeans will I cut for strops: my wife's or mine LOL. Will Armani Exchange work better then Wrangler?
My main concern now is about compound. I got this staff which was available locally:https://www.lowes.com/pd/PORTER-CABLE-5-Piece-Fiber-Cleaning-Polishing-Wheel-Accessory-Kit/50171523. Should I use it or it is better to wait until some body tell me exactly what I need to buy and I will get the right stuff. My understanding was that since an initial compound is loaded you can not switch. Since Ben Dover suggested that leather can be used without any compound at all (I assumes that I would need to make more strokes to get THE SAME RESULT) for now I can do more strokes if needed. It does not make sense that soft leather can sharpen steel but I trust that I need (usually) listen to advice of experts

I remember that few years ago I asked in a Mercedes forums if I need to care about brake fluid for my car with expectation that I would be assured that is it not too important. To my surprise that question generated fierce discussion for several pages and it appeared that it is very important not only which fluid you use but how to properly handle it, flush it, change it etc. Somthing tells me that stropping also has many different schools, techniques and nuances.

 

[stitchawl]

Thank you Stitchawl,

It was very encouraging! I already was trying to figure out whose jeans will I cut for strops: my wife's or mine LOL. Will Armani Exchange work better then Wrangler?

Actually, a good question. It depends upon the soil in which the cotton was grown. And we will never know.... LOL!
Let me break it down... The leather (or jeans, or the palm of your hand, or a virgin's thigh) don't do the work. It's the "natural silicates," which are micro-abrasive, that actually get the job done. The more silicates present, the higher the quality of stropping material (when used without compound.) Animals that eat strictly plant-based have higher silicates levels in their body. (This is an excellent justification for finding the thigh of a VEGAN virgin!) Horsehide and Kangaroo hide top the list in the animal kingdom, with cowhide right behind them. The better-made strops will have a higher level of silicates in their surface than found in a plain strip of cowhide glued to a fancy wooden base. They have been processed to bring the silicate level to the surface. If buying a commercially made strop from a Knife dealer, first ask 'how was the leather processed. If they tell you it was nicely cut, then glued to an exquisite, hand-polished, wax-rubbed Curly Maple pedestal (in other words, tell you nothing about the process of the leather, but two paragraphs about the wood base, ) find another dealer.

My main concern now is about compound.

This is the easy part. Think 'sandpaper grits.' Compound works the same way. And you'd use it the same way, working from course to extra fine. But you DO need to have a separate strop for each grit of compound. Some real Knife-Knuts will have 30 different strops, each loaded with a different type of compound. These folks will use their sharpening stones down to 400 grit, and then start stropping all the way to 10,000 grit or finer, spending several hours doing so. Needless to say, stropping takes MUCH longer than stoning. Personally, I use a stone to 2,000 grit, Green Chromium oxide compound on anything flat and hard (an old piece of MDF works great, or even an old 2X4. I do have a cowhide bench strop I use for this, but it doesn't need to be.) Then I finish up with a bare leather horsehide strop for10-15 strokes. I do NOT 'sharpen' with a strop. I 'finish' with a strop.

Your compounds probably will work for you... if... your steel isn't the newer super-hard stuff. That often requires a diamond-filled compound. If you have two strops, use the finer middle compound on one and either the extra fine one the other or leave it bare. You don't need the coarse stuff. Be absolutely certain not to contaminate one strop with the other.

My understanding was that since an initial compound is loaded you can not switch.

You can add a coarser compound over a fine one, but not the other way around.

It does not make sense that soft leather can sharpen steel but I trust that I need (usually) listen to advice of experts

You are correct... Soft leather can not sharpen steel. But the 'silicates' found in soft leather can! But you really want the hardest substrate (i.e. firm leather, pressed felt, MDF board, etc.) so as not to round the edge because of pressing the blade down into it too hard and having it curl over the edge.

Somthing tells me that stropping also has many different schools, techniques and nuances.

Very true. Some folks have, as I said 30-40 different strops and compounds, other folks have one or two. A lot depends on the edge you are after. Personally, I don't want an edge so sharp that if you look at it, your eyeballs will start to bleed. I want an edge that will easily cut anything I need to cut. That's all. And I can get that edge, from butter-knife dull to VERY effectively sharp in 10-15 minutes. I no longer want to spend 4 hours sharpening a knife so I can brag that it whittles hair. Been there. Done that.


Stitchawl

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Regarding the use of denim (jeans, etc) for a loaded strop:

The whole advantage of using denim, linen or canvas with a compound is, the fabric will hold a lot more compound than leather will, which will make the strop work very, very fast in refining, removing metal and polishing. Really has little to do with the 'grain' or particular weave of the fabric, when a compound is used. It's just that the compound has a better footing in the fabric and can also be held in much higher density on the fabric. Denim works especially well with the stick-type buffing compounds, because the fabric easily scrubs compound from the stick and holds it well. Strops like these will load up & blacken very quickly, which is testament to how aggressively they work. And being that the fabric will typically be thinner than most leathers, there'll be less edge-rounding issues due to compression of the material under the blade's edge.

So, if the denim is to be loaded with a compound, it's much less important as to the type of denim or the newness or age of the denim. One of the most effective strops I've ever used is a denim-over-wood paddle strop made from some jeans that were very old, worn and thin. They otherwise would've been long past their prime as clothing and would've been thrown out.

Bare denim, by itself, can influence refinement of the edge. But most of the time, that's more about stripping away weak remnants of burrs & such, and aligning a very fine edge. I'm sure the individual character (grain, weave, stiffness/softness, thickness, etc.) of a piece of denim or other fabric can make one work somewhat differently than another, if used bare.