Stropping with an old belt

neal70

neal70

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Jun 3, 2015
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Lately I've been using an old black belt with no compound on it to strop with, in addition to my normal paddle stropping. Found that it works very, very well ( I'm getting push cuts from knives that we're having problems draw cutting). My question is whether the stain on the belt will cause some kind of negative reaction with non-stainless steels? Anyone have advice, a link on stropping with old belts specifically , or experience with this? Maybe I'm being cautious for no reason, just don't know.😎 Posted this here cause I figure more than a few know about it but please move to the correct section/forum if this was a mistake, oh mod-gods🙂
Thanks in advance , Neal
 
Neal I've been using this piece of an old black belt for a long time and never had any problems. This is an old picture I posted somewhere on here. I guess some dyes could affect carbon steels. I hang the buckle on an old nail and like you have gotten great results.


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I use an old belt for a strop, unstitched leather, tan dye I think. I put some green compound on half of the inside, white compound on the other half, 1u diamond spray on 1/2 the outside, left the final outside section clean. I strop with whatever knife I feel like, including carbon, on any or all sections. Never had any issues with the dye.

I can't see what problems you'd have from it to be honest.
 
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I have used many a belt for stopping before I got my paddle. Never had compound to use with the belts, but it did a good job. I usually used the inside of the belt so as to not ruin the dress side of the belt.
 
I've been using an old belt for stropping my straight razor before shaving everytime for around 4 years now, it's carbon steel and no problem so far. I use it as a hanging strop.
I also use the shoulder strap on my man purse for my pocket knives and it is colored leather and also no problem


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neal70 said:
Lately I've been using an old black belt with no compound on it to strop with, in addition to my normal paddle stropping. Found that it works very, very well ( I'm getting push cuts from knives that we're having problems draw cutting). My question is whether the stain on the belt will cause some kind of negative reaction with non-stainless steels? Anyone have advice, a link on stropping with old belts specifically , or experience with this? Maybe I'm being cautious for no reason, just don't know.�� Posted this here cause I figure more than a few know about it but please move to the correct section/forum if this was a mistake, oh mod-gods��
Thanks in advance , Neal
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Don't worry about that. If the tanning agents or dyes in leather happen to be reactive at all, I've never noticed it to be an issue with steel of any kind, especially when only used as a strop, with short-term contact. Some tanning agents are known to be reactive with brass or anything containing copper (brass is an alloy of copper); this is why verdigris (green corrosion) eventually forms on brass bolsters, pins and hilts/guards of knives stored a long time in leather sheaths, as it's caused by a reaction with chemicals in the leather. Knives can rust in leather sheaths because the sheath can trap moisture and other rust-causing agents against the steel. But again, that's a result of long-term, continuous contact between leather and steel, and the lack of air circulation between them.

The act of stropping an edge is essentially a cleaning operation anyway. It's much better at preventing corrosion of a knife edge than it is at causing it, as any impurities on the blade's edge will continually be scrubbed away in stropping.

(I have & use two leather belts as strops, BTW. :))


David
 
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Yea for the old black fire brigade leather belt.Hook it round a chair back .
 
Thanks everybody, that pretty well tells me what I thought might be the case is correct. R Redden- funny you show a two prong belt, as that is precisely what I'm using. Any rule of thumb on length, or just a what works for you situation ? Common sense says yes, I guess. Anyways Thanks Again everyone 🙂
Neal
 
neal70 said:
Thanks everybody, that pretty well tells me what I thought might be the case is correct. R Redden- funny you show a two prong belt, as that is precisely what I'm using. Any rule of thumb on length, or just a what works for you situation ? Common sense says yes, I guess. Anyways Thanks Again everyone ��
Neal
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Whatever works for you is good. For length, I figure long enough for a full and unrestricted sweeping pass to essentially arm's length is what works well for me. I use my belts as hanging strops (barber style) at their full length, without cutting them to a smaller size. That's enough to hold one end of the belt with one hand, and to loop the buckle end around a bed rail, towel bar or similar device at the other end, still leaving maybe 18" - 30" or more between the ends for the stropping stroke. If using the belt as a bench or paddle strop over a hard backing, I think 12" or more of actual stropping length is best for those. It allows enough length to develop a smooth rhythm and pace for stropping, without too much risk of running the edge off the end of the strop.


David
 
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Yeah length is good I noticed, when I was touching up my belt bravo 2. Much less length on my belt and I wouldn't have been able to do loose or hanging stropping. Long arms plus big convex plus long blade= long strop for that 'un
Neal
 
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