i've just bought a leather strop but i'm not sure if i'm supposed to treat it with some kind of cutting agent like brasso. Anyone out there give me some advice on this?
leather strops???
- Thread starter baggins
- Start date
I made mine from a scrap of leather and it has two sides, one treated with solvol metal polish and the other left clean. Which side I use depends on what I sharpening. If I want scalpel sharp, for example for cutting leather, I'll use the polish side to get a polished finish on the edge which cuts down friction. This sort of edge is good for that sort of thing, but if I want an edge for cutting rope for example, I use the dry side just to take of the fine burr sometimes left by sharpening. This leaves a toothy edge which is great for cutting rope and string.baggins said:
One temptation with a strop is to over strop which can round off the edge and actually blunt the knife. Most importantly make sure the angle that you start with is the angle that you finish with and you should be ok. If you have a knife that you can practice on, that's sometimes a good idea
No probs baggins, if you still get stuck, take a wander over to British Blades and you'll find loads of information on strops. One other thing about them is that there are many different views on what makes a good strop and how best to use it.baggins said:Thats great, thanks mate.
Read this thread already this morning and could barely resist not to make some remarks on Jake's adress concerning a certain cutting agent ...
Star key ... sharkie ... s******
Please ... not AGAIN!!!!
Star key ... sharkie ... s******
Please ... not AGAIN!!!!
Hi folks
I use a strop for final finishing, I don't use anything on the leather, a tip for not making a beval on the edge is to use the strop on a hard flat surface and not to use it hanging as per the barbers, keep the blade as flat as possible ie dont lift it and drag the edge there is enough give in the leather to make sure the edge is stroped (hope that makes sense), dont go for speed do it carfully, I agree with the point that was made about deciding on the use of the blade ie polished edge or leave the micro serations in place, from my experiance a plane leather strop will tidy the edge but you would have dificulty getting the edge polished.
For a utility edge i would suggest that all your doing with the strop is making sure the wire edge is removed and giving it a tidy.
Mark
I use a strop for final finishing, I don't use anything on the leather, a tip for not making a beval on the edge is to use the strop on a hard flat surface and not to use it hanging as per the barbers, keep the blade as flat as possible ie dont lift it and drag the edge there is enough give in the leather to make sure the edge is stroped (hope that makes sense), dont go for speed do it carfully, I agree with the point that was made about deciding on the use of the blade ie polished edge or leave the micro serations in place, from my experiance a plane leather strop will tidy the edge but you would have dificulty getting the edge polished.
For a utility edge i would suggest that all your doing with the strop is making sure the wire edge is removed and giving it a tidy.
Mark
baggins said:
Hello Baggins, a very old friend of mine who spent his entire life as a boat builder and timberframer showed me a great trick for getting a razor edge on chisels and planer irons using a leather strop.
He tacked a length of leather belt to a piece of planed 2 by 4, rubbed in some baby oil and then squirted on a little chrome polish( t-cut) and then stroped the edge to remove the burr.
The edge that your after should not reflect light, this is known as the 'Candle', an edge that reflects light is rounded over and needs to be re-honed.
Everybody has their own way of obtaining a razor edge and this method works for me
Good luck
