leather strop

[flame]

What type of leather is best to use for a strop, also what thickness is best, Bill.

 

[Dalboy]

If you are talking of stropping your turning tools I would not bother the only tools that I put on the strop are my carving ones. As for the type of leather then any will do but make sure it is thin if too thick it can round over the tool after time especially carving chisels. Glue it down to a piece of MRMDF to give a good flat surface

 

[flame]

Thanks Dalboy, it is for my carving chisels, when you say thin would that be 1mm 2mm 3mm?.

 

[undergroundhunter]

Go down the local scrap yard with a Stanley knife, mine is made of an old car seat cover. the leather is only about 1 - 1.5 mm.

Matt

 

[ED65]

What type of leather is best to use for a strop

Very open-ended question I'm afraid. The main thing is whether you intend to strop with or without a compound.

If you're intending to use a compound, either 'green rouge' or something like T-Cut, then the type of leather matters a lot less than it does if you were stropping dry. If you're using compound you don't actually need leather at all, many people today strop directly on wood or MDF if they're using compound.

also what thickness is best

That's determined to a large degree by the type of leather you pick. Some firmer leathers are always thick (think belts or shoe soles) and more pliable ones are nearly invariably thinner, as you'd see on leather jackets or seat covers.

 

[custard]

Personally I'd have thought the hardest material possible, but that still retains the polish, would be ideal as it prevents dubbing over. So wood or MDF makes a lot of sense to me. Certainly that's what I use when polishing Holtey S53 steel with diamond paste. But people I've spoken to who seem to genuinely know about these things, like professional wood carvers, say Horse Butt leather is the best chisel strop you can get. Armed with this information I once got myself a couple, they're about 5 or 6mm thick and really, really tough. I once had a pair of horse butt leather brogues that stood up to many years of wear. However, unlike the shoes I'm sorry to say I've never actually used the Horse Butt strops!

 

[AJB Temple]

If you ask this question in the kitchen knife community or razor community you will get a range of answers that sometimes border on obsessive. Diamond spray on balsa for example is frequently recommended. I've experimented quite a bit and decided it's all boll*cks. Stropping works of course but it doesn't last long and so it doesn't matter much what you strop on. If you strop a lot then the longevity of the surface becomes important. Soft leather is easily cut by the slightest lack of care in handling. Get the cheapest replaceable material and don't be too precious about it I would say.

 

[Lons]

Hi Bill

I'll stick a bit of thin leather in the post. Wish I'd thought when I sent the chisels.

Bob

 

[Lons]

If you ask this question in the kitchen knife community or razor community you will get a range of answers that sometimes border on obsessive. Diamond spray on balsa for example is frequently recommended. I've experimented quite a bit and decided it's all boll*cks. Stropping works of course but it doesn't last long and so it doesn't matter much what you strop on. If you strop a lot then the longevity of the surface becomes important. Soft leather is easily cut by the slightest lack of care in handling. Get the cheapest replaceable material and don't be too precious about it I would say.

The only thing I would say is that how long the leather lasts is down mainly to how you treat it, I have a couple of strops, thinish leather glued to MDF and I've had them probably 20 years. If you're cutting the leather then you're pushing the tool edge into it rather than pulling away.

If your carving tools are sharp the stropping is a matter of just a few gentle strokes, more like rubbing the bevel really and how often depends on the wood you're cutting e.g. oak more than lime, more than basswood. I use white buffing soap on one and chrome polish on the other btw but though that suits me, I'm not saying it's the best way.
I guess I've tried most of the other methods over the years except diamond spray and they all work to an extent but no amount of stropping will ever work unless the tools have a very keen edge to start with.

Bob

 

[AJB Temple]

Bob, I agree 100%. On things like carving chisels in the workshop, where you are stropping single bevel it is easy to look after the strop. In a kitchen environment, say stropping a bunch of double edge guyuto's, the knife runs on the strop in both directions. I am usually in a hurry when I am doing 10 or 12 knives, and occasionally nick the strop. No biggie - leather is cheap. I use a german strop waxy stuff mostly but that's because I get it for free. It is some sort of white paste and quite effective. When stropping things like ultra expensive artisan made knives, I have tried all the stropping variations, including the aforementioned balsa and diamond spray in various different particle sizes (a friend brings it for me forms the US) but really you have to be pretty damn keen to do that. I would not bother on wood carving or turning tools, but I might on a high end Yanagiba (if I was in the mood for perfection). I use different gear in workshop versus kitchen - including different stones and plates. I have reined back my knife sharpening addiction no end!

Adrian

 

[bugbear]

If you ask this question in the kitchen knife community or razor community you will get a range of answers that sometimes border on obsessive.

The knife guys get obsessive. I can understand obsessive.

But the razor guys get mystical, which I deal with "less well".

BugBear

 

[Lons]

What's a kitchen Adrian? (hammer) in our house it's where the missus hangs out ...occasionally :wink:

Bob

 

[Graham Orm]

Perfect http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12-Pocket-Lea ... SwLVZVq~g4

Loaded with this. will give a mirror finish with only a few strokes. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BARBER-STROP- ... SwI-BWNVsm

 

[Lons]

Perfect http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12-Pocket-Lea ... SwLVZVq~g4

Loaded with this. will give a mirror finish with only a few strokes. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BARBER-STROP- ... SwI-BWNVsm

Good link graham, I might give that a go.

 

[AJB Temple]

The snag with letting my wife hang out in the kitchen Bob is that she might cook. This results in perfectly good ingredients being converted into stuff that can be put into the bin without going near my stomach. Luckily, she has other talents.

 

[Lons]

The snag with letting my wife hang out in the kitchen Bob is that she might cook. This results in perfectly good ingredients being converted into stuff that can be put into the bin without going near my stomach. Luckily, she has other talents.

:lol: :lol: :lol:
Had a cooked dinner tonight which is a change from the microwave. Just what you need after a round of golf. :wink: :lol:

Poor lass is really struggling as she desperately needs both hips replaced so can't exactly grumble.