Do you strop?

[Anonymous]

Well, as you will no doubt have fathomed by now, I bought quite a few hand tools from Mike Hancock of Classic hand Tools at the Yandles show -and he gave forum members very generous discounts.
Thanks Mike, nice to meet you.

The cheapest was a leather strop and a bar of soap (Clifton polishing soap that is).

My typical sharpening regime is to use the DMT (if edge is really bad), 4000 then 8000 Norton followed by a quick strop on an old piece of leather with Autosol on it.

I tried this new Clifton polishing soap on the leather and stropped quickly. Amazing!! :shock: Far better than my autosol setup which was pretty good.
I have never gotten an edge like this before. Highly recommended if you have never tried it before.

I even used just the strop to 'freshen' a blunt chisel and it was razor sharp in seconds.

By the way, I don't shave my arms with the blade (why do people do that?), only wood :wink:

So, do you strop?

 

[Philly]

Quite a bit - not every time but often.
The clifton soap is pretty good!
Philly

 

[JFC]

Now cmon Tony you have given your self away there by telling us that it wasn't sharp enough to shave your arms :lol:
As for why people do it i can only speak for myself , id look pretty dam stupid working in my summer dress with hairy arms wouldn't i !!! :wink:

 

[NeilO]

I dont reckon shaving arms has anything to do with how sharp your chisel is.....

I`m beginning to think we have a secret society within our ranks, akin to the freemasons, and a shaved forearm is proof of membership :lol: :lol:

and as for stroping, the only strop I managed from Yandles , was the inability to get there saturday

 

[Paul Chapman]

So, do you strop?

Every time

I go straight from the extra fine DMT to the strop and get very sharp blades. Used to use the Clifton compound but now use jewellers rouge mixed with Vaseline. Looks the same as the Clifton stuff but is maroon rather than blue and a bit finer. On beading cutters I use a similar process but use a polishing compound on shaped MDF wheels in an electric drill. I use the black polishing compound on the wheels.

Next time you are at a show, have a look at Mike Hudson's blades on the Clifton stand. He finishes all his on a strop and they are amazing.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Karl]

I've used a leather strop and some kind of "soap" for a couple of years. It only cost a few quid from Axminster, who have now stopped selling it (the brand I have, anyhow).

I use the strop after a 6000 grit waterstone. And my test is shaving hairs off the back of my hand...... :roll: I think this helps me know that the blade is "razor" sharp before I start to plane my wood. I definitely get a better edge using the strop than from the 6000 grit alone.

Cheers

Karl

 

[Anonymous]

As for why people do it i can only speak for myself , id look pretty dam stupid working in my summer dress with hairy arms wouldn't i !!! :wink:

Now I understand!! Good idea :wink: :lol:

 

[MIGNAL]

I use the strop after a 6000 grit waterstone. And my test is shaving hairs off the back of my hand...... Rolling Eyes I think this helps me know that the blade is "razor" sharp before I start to plane my wood.

Shaving hairs is a fairly standard test, a better one is to cut hairs in mid-air -not at skin level but half-way up the actual hair, also known as 'chopping hairs'. Try it, if you can do it you have earned a rite of passage to the very next level; which is splitting a silk scarf into two pieces using the blade edge and only the weight of the silk scarf itself.

 

[Vormulac]

Don't you have to hone your blade on the first rays of an early sunrise to get that level of sharpness? :wink:

 

[MIGNAL]

SShhh! Don't tell everyone!

 

[Niki]

I was also a "shaver" till I read some "patent"...

"This is an ancient method used by silver engravers.
Set the edge against the flat of your nail and slowly lower the angle between the edge and the nail.
A sharp edge will catch the nail at any elevation (angle)"

niki

 

[ByronBlack]

I just use talcum powder on a leather strop and I get a nice mirror finish, I also shave the hairs of my fore-arm as a test, I always get nice sharp tools if I can shave the hairs, If I can't I go back to the 10,000 waterstone and hone a little more, for me it's an excellent guide of sharpness before attacking the wood.

 

[MIGNAL]

Actually the silk scarf bit was in jest, the 'chopping hairs' bit can be done but I suspect you might have to strop for a long time to achieve that. Power honing is probably the way to go.

 

[Paul Chapman]

So when your arms are bald what do you do - move on to your legs :shock: Then what - the chest :shock: :shock: Where does it stop :shock: :shock: :shock: :lol:

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Anonymous]

I just use talcum powder on a leather strop and I get a nice mirror finish, I also shave the hairs of my fore-arm as a test, I always get nice sharp tools if I can shave the hairs, If I can't I go back to the 10,000 waterstone and hone a little more, for me it's an excellent guide of sharpness before attacking the wood.

I find paring a piece of end grain on a test piece of oak works just as well to prove sharpness, and I have all the hairs (ad arm) intact :wink:

 

[aldel]

I have been advocating this method for three years now since I bought the same leather and polishing compound. I bought an extra leather and use a coarser compound as well. The dark grey/black stuff for the first hone.
The leather strips are glued to some 18mm MDF.
I use my Veritas honing guide and push the blade away from me in reverse to stop it digging in. First on the coarse and then on the blue compound.
Over time I think the compound and leather absorb microscopic metal particles or something because the more you use this system then the quicker it seems to provide a very, very sharp edge.

Aldel

 

[Lukey]

I don't have a clue what stropping is...I thought it was something that my Mrs did when I upset her...

Can anyone give a good definitive guide on how to do this, as would like to try if it gives a sharp edge as you say.

 

[Anonymous]

I don't have a clue what stropping is...I thought it was something that my Mrs did when I upset her...

Can anyone give a good definitive guide on how to do this, as would like to try if it gives a sharp edge as you say.

Basically it is running the bevel across a peice of leather - often with a honing compound ion it such as the Clifton stuff I am now using. I got soap and leather from Classic Hand Tools, but any leather will do.

The soap is really a hard block of polishing compound a little like jewellers rouge.

After the 8000 grit stone, I move the honing guide to a piece of MDF with the leather and soap on it and run the blade over it a dozen times to get a very shiny and very sharp edge.

Cut-throat razors were kept sharp by stropping

 

[ByronBlack]

Lukey - stropping is like what the old barbers used to do with a cut throat razor and long leather strip - it essentially polishes the bevel that you would have honed on your sharpening stones or sandpaper whichever mehtod you use.

All you do is run the bevel (facing down) on the leather and either pull towards your push away - whichever method you prefer. If you charge the leather with a cutting compound as mentioned, or talcum powder or any very fine grit abrasive powder, it will give your bevel a mirror-shine and an ultra-sharp edge.

Hope that explains it.

EDIT: Tony beat me to the punch