Will this leather make a good strop?

[Omega Leather Works]

Hey people. While digging through my scrap leather pile looking for something appropriate for a strop I came across this.

I've read through the threads that I found, and looked at knifenut1013's how to, but didn't come across a whole lot on which leathers are good and which are bad.

If you can't tell in the pic this leather is very thin and the flesh side is very soft and smooth.

Will this work well? Should I back it with something before gluing it to the wood since it's so thin, or is this a virtue?

I've made strops in the past but have never had much luck.

Thanks

 

[OHALLUM]

You are probably better off using some vegetable tanned leather that is thicker and stiffer than what you are showing. (hard to tell what it is from the picture)

Omar

 

[Omega Leather Works]

You are probably better off using some vegetable tanned leather that is thicker and stiffer than what you are showing. (hard to tell what it is from the picture)

Omar

All of the leather I buy is veg tanned. I should have said that. I use it for hc steel sheaths and stuff. The only other stuff I have atm is brittle for some reason. I have yards of it but it's pretty rough. I guess I can always experiment.

I was thinking this thin stuff with green compound on wood. Anyone else care to comment?

Thanks

 

[Magnaminous_G]

Only one way to find out, actually. The nap will hold compound, that's for sure. As thin as that is, you might consider gluing it to a glass backing.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Used with compound, that should probably be OK. I usually associate 'veg-tanned' leather with only the tan/natural finish. The colored leathers (black, red, etc) are sometimes tanned or dyed by other means, like chrome-tanning, which strips many of the natural silicates from the leather (they give the leather it's polishing ability). Those will be less effective than veg-tanned, if used bare, without compound.

Another downside to using black leather is, it might be a little tougher to see how well your compound is working (usually obvious on a light-colored strop, where the metal removed during stropping will be seen as black stuff on the leather). This is a minor point, though.

Thin leather is good, when used on a hard backing like glass or hardwood. Thicker is OK too, if it's very firm or nearly hard. The goal is to minimize how much it'll compress under pressure from the blade's edge, which will round over the cutting edge, if too soft.


David

 

[Omega Leather Works]

Used with compound, that should probably be OK. I usually associate 'veg-tanned' leather with only the tan/natural finish. The colored leathers (black, red, etc) are sometimes tanned or dyed by other means, like chrome-tanning, which strips many of the natural silicates from the leather (they give the leather it's polishing ability). Those will be less effective than veg-tanned, if used bare, without compound.

Another downside to using black leather is, it might be a little tougher to see how well your compound is working (usually obvious on a light-colored strop, where the metal removed during stropping will be seen as black stuff on the leather). This is a minor point, though.

Thin leather is good, when used on a hard backing like glass or hardwood. Thicker is OK too, if it's very firm or nearly hard. The goal is to minimize how much it'll compress under pressure from the blade's edge, which will round over the cutting edge, if too soft.


David

Your point about not being able to see the deposit left behind was the very first thing I thought of when I grabbed that piece.

I have some tan rawhide somewhere, but it's pretty fleshy.

I have enough of this thin stuff that I could easily make two layers. That's always an option too.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Your point about not being able to see the deposit left behind was the very first thing I thought of when I grabbed that piece.

I have some tan rawhide somewhere, but it's pretty fleshy.

I have enough of this thin stuff that I could easily make two layers. That's always an option too.

If it were me, I'd just stick with a single layer. Two layers of fairly soft leather will just make the strop even softer and more compressible; I'd avoid that. Use just one layer on as hard a backing as you can. I'm sure a piece of hardwood like oak or maple would be fine for that, if you can't use glass. MDF (medium density fiberboard) is great for this as well.


David

 

[Omega Leather Works]

If it were me, I'd just stick with a single layer. Two layers of fairly soft leather will just make the strop even softer and more compressible; I'd avoid that. Use just one layer on as hard a backing as you can. I'm sure a piece of hardwood like oak or maple would be fine for that, if you can't use glass. MDF (medium density fiberboard) is great for this as well.


David

Sounds good. Thanks for the advice.

I found a small piece of flat scrap furniture wood (I think it's actually burl that I had for scales!) and am making a mini strop to see how it fairs. I used a thin layer of elmers wood glue and it's drying now under the compression of a heavy box.

My knife, as you may have seen in my "loaded stones" thread is an s30v Spyderco native. I finally got a good 17° angle on each side. It's not a mirror polish right now, but there is definitely a good polished edge with only some scratching keeping it from mirror status. Hopefully I can get it closer to a mirrored edge with the green compound.

Otoh the compound is from harbor freight, so who knows how consistent this stuff is.

 

[Mr. Chips]

Glue the smooth side down to a board or piece of MDF. Make it about 10 inches long. It will make a great strop.

Use green compound - one application will do at least 50 - 100 blades.

Use fair pressure and do not flip the knife at the end of each stroke. If you do, you will anticipate that flip, and start raising the back of the blade while the edge is still on the strop and you will actually rub your edge off.

I would suggest at least 30 hard strokes on each side and then check carefully for burrs. You might want to do a few more on each side. Do not run off the end of the strop and do not give the knife a little wrist flip at the end of the stroke. Do this slowly enough that you can observe what you are doing. Make every effort to maintain a consistent angle all the way from the beginning to the end of the stroke.

I read some people saying that stropping should be done very lightly, but every knife that a student has given me that was "almost" sharp, was considerably improved by firm pressure on the strop for a few strokes.

By the way, denim, as in a piece from an old pair of jeans, with compound on of course (not red. Red is useless), glued to MDF makes a great strop.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

Thanks for the advice guys!

Okay well the edge is not mirror perfect. I suspect that some of the deeper scratches won't come out with stroping alone.

I can say this however... the strop (and leather) works very well. I'm not sure if it was technique or a result of the belt leather I had used in the past, but this is the sharpest I've ever gotten a blade no question. I'm purposely leaving the very edge just a hair off the leather and using pressure to get contact. Seems to be a viable technique.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

I can't seem to get a decent pic of the edge but here's my best effort.