Looking for a leather strop.
- Thread starter yarrow
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you must be joking right?
Leather: Nearly any leather will do. If you can only get thin leather you can glue it to a support, your choice of wood, metal, carbon fibre, whatever you like! The leather can be hard and thick with a smooth surface, or can be soft and fluffy.
Compound: Tormek make a compound in a tube for their rotary sharpening systems, they have a leather wheel that it is applied to. There must be machine shops in Germany that use buffing wheels. Buffing compound will work just fine, there are many different grades, some are finer than others, I find the rouge type a little too fine, but it does leave fewer scratches than the Tormek compound. Germany also has an outomotive industry, try going into a auto-accessory store and buying one of the compounds used to polish out scratches in car paint work.
Don't you go getting fixated on the thing that Axminster sells because it is an "official" strop and people here use them.
Be adaptable
Leather: Nearly any leather will do. If you can only get thin leather you can glue it to a support, your choice of wood, metal, carbon fibre, whatever you like! The leather can be hard and thick with a smooth surface, or can be soft and fluffy.
Compound: Tormek make a compound in a tube for their rotary sharpening systems, they have a leather wheel that it is applied to. There must be machine shops in Germany that use buffing wheels. Buffing compound will work just fine, there are many different grades, some are finer than others, I find the rouge type a little too fine, but it does leave fewer scratches than the Tormek compound. Germany also has an outomotive industry, try going into a auto-accessory store and buying one of the compounds used to polish out scratches in car paint work.
Don't you go getting fixated on the thing that Axminster sells because it is an "official" strop and people here use them.
Be adaptable 
I made mine from an old leather sofa that was being thrown out.Having been against the wall the back of it was virtually brand new a three seater I got about just over 1sq metre of leather in two halves
Dave.
Dave.
Totally agree with Chris. Strops are one of the easiest do-it-yourself projects there is. I have a couple commercial strops and none are better than my homemade. My oldest strop I made back in the 70s and it's still going strong. Leather belt glued on one side and a piece of military web belt glued on the other.
Personally I like rough-finished leather for a strop because it seems to hold polishing compound well. I also like mousepad-backed strops. I dunno. They seem to do a nice job.
Personally I like rough-finished leather for a strop because it seems to hold polishing compound well. I also like mousepad-backed strops. I dunno. They seem to do a nice job.
yarrow said:
...It's probably quite good, but if it's any better than Brasso or Autosol or any other metal polishing paste..... I can't say as thats what I use.
ATB
Ogri the trog
I have had one of these for several years and I highly reccomend it! One side is leather and one green chrome for extra abrasion
http://www.knifecenter.com/kc_new/store_detail.html?s=J42
http://www.knifecenter.com/kc_new/store_detail.html?s=J42
I use a Flexcut Gold ( its in the form of a crayon, of a Mars bar size/shape) to load my strop, mainly for use with woodcarving sharps.
I think it must be something on the same lines as whats being discussed here.
It dosnt leave any noticable marks, in fact it , "rounds off" almost too well, if you aint careful and you overcook it, or, if you use a too-saggy strop.
Cant say as I know exactly what the abrasive is, its not gritty to touch...but, curiously, if you just gently wipe a carbon steel sharp, along the crayon; it instantly turns the crayon black, at the point of contact.
Got it from a Carvers shop.
Never seen one at B&Q or elsewhere.
Pity.
Ceeg
I think it must be something on the same lines as whats being discussed here.
It dosnt leave any noticable marks, in fact it , "rounds off" almost too well, if you aint careful and you overcook it, or, if you use a too-saggy strop.
Cant say as I know exactly what the abrasive is, its not gritty to touch...but, curiously, if you just gently wipe a carbon steel sharp, along the crayon; it instantly turns the crayon black, at the point of contact.
Got it from a Carvers shop.
Never seen one at B&Q or elsewhere.
Pity.
Ceeg
Indeed...
why risk selecting the wrong kind of strop and the wrong kind of polish like all the ignorant saps before you, when you too can have a carefully hand selected bit of floppy leather lovingly stamped with the S*****e name, along with their special, can't be found anywhere else, secret formula, blue compound.
That whole thing was funny. Ahjno, thanks for bringing me a smile 
While that German made strop looks fancy, I can think of better ways to spend money, like betting on the horses. I am sure it works fine, but I cannot see why anyone should put down that kind of money for what amounts to two bits of leather and a support. Since you can get a scary shaving sharp edge with the simplest arrangement, why complicate matters? Put the money you save to something you can't improvise so easily, a pocket ceramic hone, or something towards another knife.
why risk selecting the wrong kind of strop and the wrong kind of polish like all the ignorant saps before you, when you too can have a carefully hand selected bit of floppy leather lovingly stamped with the S*****e name, along with their special, can't be found anywhere else, secret formula, blue compound.
That whole thing was funny. Ahjno, thanks for bringing me a smile
While that German made strop looks fancy, I can think of better ways to spend money, like betting on the horses.
I am sure it works fine, but I cannot see why anyone should put down that kind of money for what amounts to two bits of leather and a support. Since you can get a scary shaving sharp edge with the simplest arrangement, why complicate matters? Put the money you save to something you can't improvise so easily, a pocket ceramic hone, or something towards another knife. Hoodoo said:I have to admit that's a pretty sexy strop!
Because of the adjustable aspect it's really easy to use to put an edge on khukuris or axes that are really dull. An 8X11 sheet of sandpaper can be cut in strips and laid on top of it to get more abrasion.
For my knives I mainly use a small strop I made myself out of a block of wood. If I can get it together to take a pic I'll post it later on.
yarrow said:Does anyone have any ideas where I can get me a leather strop and some honing soap other than Axminster Power Tool Centre. I have also looked at taylors of bond street but at 79quid!!!! was thinking there must be something cheaper out there.
Sorry if this has been mentioned by anyone else, but these guys have an interesting site and some useful info: http://www.handamerican.com/
Burnt Ash
Hoodoo said:I have to admit that's a pretty sexy strop!
Hoodoo... errr... sexy???
I want one though, I cannot deny!
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