What do you put on your strop?

[DannyEssex]

I’m currently reading Ernest Joyce’s Technique of Furniture Making and he recommends using oil sprinkled with fine carborundum powder.

I can remember reading on this forum that Autosol was good to use to charge the leather.

Curious to read what you gus use

 

[Woody2Shoes]

Autosol and a bit of 3-in-one on leather (the oil helps to minimise risk of dust - which is not nice to breathe) - cheers, W2S

 

[Mike Jordan]

I'm not certain where I bought this but the package mentions a Starkie website.
Prior to buying this I used Solvol Autosol a metal polish.
It's described as a paste but is in fact a sort of greasy crayon.
Mike.

 

[Rorschach]

I am trialling an MDF strop with autosol but I am not liking it, messy and slow and smelly too.

On my leather strop I use a paste made from jewellers rouge and vaseline, that works very nicely and is only messy when first applied, it soon settles nicely, no smell and gives a good finish.

I am going to make a new MDF strop and try one of my coarser buffing compounds, hopefully less messy. I like the harder surface of the MDF for certain tools over the leather.

I have a powered strop on my tormek clone, I never use it. I have an MDF wheel on a bench grinder that I use with buffing compound, that works very nicely for quickly putting an edge on kitchen knives etc, not much good for chisels or planes though.

 

[Just4Fun]

I use Autosol, or T-Cut, or any similar product. They all seem much of a muchness to me.

 

[AndyT]

If you've already got anything suitable, use it. In my experience, the big gain is from using a strop. That's worth going for, when you need a first class edge. The differences between one compound and another will not be as significant.
If you don't have anything and need to buy something specially, use whatever is convenient to buy.

I have a selection pack of buffing bars in different grades, rouge in bar and powder and Autosol. They all give a polished edge.
You can also use bare leather, so worth trying that too.

 

[MikeG.]

Brasso.

 

[DannyEssex]

I’ve been using Autosol for the last couple of years, it dries out very quickly and becomes dusty so to speak. Do you put a small smear on each time you strop or as the leather has already a dried coating leave it be?

 

[ED65]

I've experimented with numerous strops over the years and while I agree with Andy's point in principle, that using a strop is the main gain, I think you do need to be a bit fussy about what you load it with (assuming you're not using it dry) because some things are definitely superior to others in action.

On one of the first strops I made to do some side-by-side comparisons I applied a commercial iron oxide polishing paste and that was gritty and noticeably less effective than some other things. I'd never use it again except for a coarse edge which I can't see a use for in most woodworking. Might be good to kitchen knives?

On my main strop, which is denim stuck to hardwood with PVA, I use Peek metal polish which is somewhat like to Autosol. Peek used to be the cheaper of the two but I think this is often reversed now although that may depend on where you buy.

I’ve been using Autosol for the last couple of years, it dries out very quickly and becomes dusty so to speak. Do you put a small smear on each time you strop or as the leather has already a dried coating leave it be?

Peek is like Autosol in that it's a wet paste that dries out to a powder but my strop doesn't look like that's the case. The secret is to smear some paste wax or petroleum jelly onto the strop or on top of the dried polish, the two mix together and stick in place.

I haven't had to re-treat my strop with more waxy/oily stuff in (3?) years but have reapplied Peek I think twice or three times in that period.

 

[DannyEssex]

I've experimented with numerous strops over the years and while I agree with Andy's point in principle, that using a strop is the main gain, I think you do need to be a bit fussy about what you load it with (assuming you're not using it dry) because some things are definitely superior to others in action.

On one of the first strops I made to do some side-by-side comparisons I applied a commercial iron oxide polishing paste and that was gritty and noticeably less effective than some other things. I'd never use it again except for a coarse edge which I can't see a use for in most woodworking. Might be good to kitchen knives?

On my main strop, which is denim stuck to hardwood with PVA, I use Peek metal polish which is somewhat like to Autosol. Peek used to be the cheaper of the two but I think this is often reversed now although that may depend on where you buy.

I’ve been using Autosol for the last couple of years, it dries out very quickly and becomes dusty so to speak. Do you put a small smear on each time you strop or as the leather has already a dried coating leave it be?

Peek is like Autosol in that it's a wet paste that dries out to a powder but my strop doesn't look like that's the case. The secret is to smear some paste wax or petroleum jelly onto the strop or on top of the dried polish, the two mix together and stick in place.

I haven't had to re-treat my strop with more waxy/oily stuff in (3?) years but have reapplied Peek I think twice or three times in that period.

Awesome, that makes sense. Thank you

 

[Tasky]

I just scrub a bit of the green honing compound onto my suede strop. Mine's from Veritas, I believe.

 

[D_W]

If your last stone is a fine stone, then nothing. Just oil the leather, keep it clean and use it bare.

If your last stone isn't a fine stone, then autosol is a good choice. Anything finer won't yield a much finer edge, but will take more time and be more of a nuisance.

It stinks, as mentioned above. If you have it on a leather strop and think that it is tired, often a drop or two of mineral oil will revive it. The longer you use the same dose, the less stinky it will be.

If any strop paste leaves visible lines on a surface, then either the strop was contaminated and needs to be scraped off, or the nick in the edge was never fully honed out.

The green formax crayons are a decent choice, too(mostly because it's coarser than people think it is), but since the wax compound is kind of dry, apply a drop or two of oil (standing, not spread out) to a strop before wiping them on.

Finer than the above is useful for someone who is not that good at honing a straight razor, but a waste of time with tools.

 

[Honest John]

I’ve been using the Flexcut Gold wax stuff that Axminster sell. The small one that came with some carving knives worked so well I bought a bigger block of the same stuff to use on my bigger strop for bench chisels and plane irons. It seems to work very well, but I’ve never used anything else (except AutoSol” that came with my Jet wet sharpener), so I’ve no idea if my experience can be bettered. I notice that Flexcut appear to supply a white wax crayon with their power honing leather kit.

 

[D_W]

Unless something has changed, that's aluminum oxide in a 2-3 micron range. A very practical solution, similar in fineness (particle size) to autosol, but slightly more aggressive.

At some point, someone told me the alumina in autosol is friable or soft or something, but I'd have to see pictures of the actual alumina breaking down to believe that.

I made my comments above based on how edges feel after various honing compounds, but also corroborating that with pictures from a metallurgical microscope. But examining actual abrasives isn't something i can do.

There are some other statements made that I'd sure like to see (Because I don't think they happen the way people think they do) - one of those being the supposed repeated crushing of the abrasive on a japanese natural stone until the particles are smaller and smaller. I think they just get more dull and loaded (actual edge pictures under magnification don't shown any reduction in the width of the grooves, at least not that I can tell. Maybe they get shallower with dulling particles.

 

[clauskeller]

Hi,

I use chromium oxide green paste from an artist shop on a leather strop.

Works very well and is not messy.

Claus

 

[El Barto]

If you've already got anything suitable, use it. In my experience, the big gain is from using a strop. That's worth going for, when you need a first class edge. The differences between one compound and another will not be as significant.
If you don't have anything and need to buy something specially, use whatever is convenient to buy.

I have a selection pack of buffing bars in different grades, rouge in bar and powder and Autosol. They all give a polished edge.
You can also use bare leather, so worth trying that too.

This.

I use the Veritas charging compound but only out of habit. I've had equally sharp edges from bare leather.