Where to get a leather strop

The member Brommeland makes a great double sided bench strop and portable strop. They come pre loaded black and green or without. Been using mine for months and love it.
 
I just made one, you might want to give it a shot. I bought hand American leather from woodcraft and cut it into two 3" strips to make two 12" x 3" strops for about $15:)
 
Make your own.

Hobby Lobby has 8"x11"x.0625" sheets of veg-tanned leather for $6 after online coupon.

HomeDepot/Lowes has Poplar and Maple finished lumber in 1x2, 1x3, 1x4 for about $2/ft.

Contact Cement is available everywhere.

So, for about $10~$12 you can make 4~6 strops of various sizes.
 
TravisH said:
Make your own.

Hobby Lobby has 8"x11"x.0625" sheets of veg-tanned leather for $6 after online coupon.

HomeDepot/Lowes has Poplar and Maple finished lumber in 1x2, 1x3, 1x4 for about $2/ft.

Contact Cement is available everywhere.

So, for about $10~$12 you can make 4~6 strops of various sizes.
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How to I tell if it is veg-tanned leather from the hobby lobby online store. I see tooling leather.

Thanks
 
Armenate said:
How to I tell if it is veg-tanned leather from the hobby lobby online store. I see tooling leather.

Thanks
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"Tooling Leather" is the same as vegetable-tanned leather. However, before you use leather for a strop, it needs to be treated in a special way. It needs to be compressed. Using is 'as is' will not give you a great strop, just a piece of leather with compound on it.

Hold the leather under water for 5-10 seconds so that it changes color. Then set it aside for an hour or two until 'some' of the original color comes back. Then use a heavy rolling pin on a flat surface to roll the leather for 10-15 minutes, compressing it and making it as dense as you can. Then let it dry for a day or two before gluing it down to a hard surface or attaching a loop for a hanging strop. You may wish to rub in a bit of leather dressing before you use it.


Stitchawl
 
If your hung up on getting leather. You can also make a strop with a pair of your old jeans and a wooden block. Works just as good! The key is using some green metal polish on it.
 
If you are going to use compound, there really is no reason to use leather. As stated-denim works well, or you can just get a paint stirring stick and rub the compound on that.
 
I've recommended the Strop Blocks from Knives Plus online many times. Really well made and affordable.
 
Armenate said:
How to I tell if it is veg-tanned leather from the hobby lobby online store. I see tooling leather.
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That's it - Large Tooling Leather - http://www.hobbylobby.com/Crafts-&-.../Leather-Pieces/Large-Tooling-Leather/p/29470

It's only 1/16" thick so there is no additional processing necessary. Just cut it to size and glue it down.

You can also use old belts and demin, just nothing too 'spongy'.

Youtube has lots of vids on making strops - https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=make+a+strop
 
TravisH said:
It's only 1/16" thick so there is no additional processing necessary. Just cut it to size and glue it down.
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Why do you believe that simply because it's only 1/16" thick that there is no additional processing necessary?
How thick does leather have to be before it's able to roll over an edge due to improper pressure, or rather, how much leather actually rolls over an edge due to improper stropping pressure?



Stitchawl
 
I wonder why people want leather strops to begin with. Go to goodwill and buy a pair of jeans and use that. Or an old bed sheet. Whatever. Use some adhesive spray on a flat board and stick the piece of cloth to it making sure there aren't wrinkles or whatever. Let it dry. Apply some quality compound. Strop said knives. People, I think, make the whole strop thing far too complicated. The compounds, well, that's another ballgame.
 
stitchawl said:
Why do you believe that simply because it's only 1/16" thick that there is no additional processing necessary?
How thick does leather have to be before it's able to roll over an edge due to improper pressure, or rather, how much leather actually rolls over an edge due to improper stropping pressure?



Stitchawl
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The key is stropping with the correct angle so your not rolling over the edge or only stropping the shoulders. A strop is the final step and you should have a sharp edge already so you don't need much pressure. I typically only use the weight of the blade...only time I'll use a lil more pressure is when I'm maintaining the edge after use and still it's very light pressure.

To get the angle right My edges are usually pretty polished before they even hit the strop, so I can feel when I'm holding the correct angle as it'll be smooth. If I hold to high I can feel the edge scrape, if I hold to low I can feel the drag.
 
stitchawl said:
Why do you believe that simply because it's only 1/16" thick that there is no additional processing necessary?
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Because I have actually made and used such strops. Have you?

Thanks, but I'll continue to rely on proven first-hand experience.


How thick does leather have to be before it's able to roll over an edge due to improper pressure, or rather, how much leather actually rolls over an edge due to improper stropping pressure?
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Anything can be produce bad results with "improper pressure".

If you are experiencing such issues, sounds like 'user error' to me.
 
Plain leather strops are used to remove final burrs and very lightly refine the edge.
Linen or canvas strops are traditionally used with compounds.
Using compound on a leather strop sort of defeats the purpose of using leather, as any material that will hold compound can be used.
 
TravisH said:
Because I have actually made and used such strops. Have you?
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Hmmmm.... I'm going to have to give it a try. 'Making a strop' yourself...' novel idea! :)

Thanks, but I'll continue to rely on proven first-hand experience.
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Yeah... I guess book learnin' only goes so far... My apologies. I can only blame my youth and inexperience for my mistakes.



Stitchawl
 
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