Walnut Bases and Strops

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Hey folks,

This project turned out to take more time than I thought, so I would like to ask you for a little bit of your patience and to apologize for missing the latest deadline. The good news is I am almost there. I like how the bases turned out.

I put together a WIP to show what it takes to make a base from a raw lumber to a finished product.

The process is as following:

- Flattening Wood on a Joiner (in the pictures it's maple for magnetic strips)
- Resawing into planks
- Squaring planks
- Cutting strips into base blanks
- Marking blanks
- Chamfering edges
- Removing wood to recess a plate
- Chamfering bottom (for a comfortable hand grip and for look)
- Hand-sanding
- Sealing wood with Tru-Oil (several applications with steel wool sanding in-between)
- Finish with hand-applied Poly or spray Lacquer


Felt Strops
- Join the surface of magnetic backing and felt with contact cement
- Cut to size



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Are the shorter ones the felt only (without slot for magnetic DMT plates?)
 
Yes, shorter are 11.5x2.75 for fixes felt, while the longer are 13x2.65 fo DMT bases.

M
 
Cool - thanks for the WIP! Looks like these will be gorgeous!
 
All bases except for one have logo on a side. One has it at the bottom.

There will be no-slip rubber strips on the bottom as well as a rubber lining on the bases for DMT plates.

M
 
A quick update.

Strops with felt attached will be finished with TruOil. I think I will apply 2 more coats and then it will be ready to ship.

Some bases for DMT plates will be finished with TruOil, and some with Poly. So far I have the following members' preferences:

Johny.B.Good TruOil
Von blewin TruOil
Anton Poly
Mrmnms Poly
Cookingstuf Poly?
Don TruOil?

Please read about the differences between TruOil and Poly Finishes Here
 
Make it easy on yourself Marko. I'm sure I'll be happy either way. I don't mind touching up with a little oil from time to time if necessary. I defer to you.
 
It has been a while since I used poly, so I will do a poly finish on one block and compare. right now TruOil finish is as close to natural (polished) look as possible. TruOil finish can get in contact with water, as long as you wipe out, you should be fine. Poly finish offers you a peace of mind.

M
 
Left till tomorrow to air the adhesives smell, but these are ready to be shipped out.

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Orders for these folks shipped today. I will send tracking information shortly

toddnmd
crothcipt
markenki
skiajl6297
dchennavasin
 
Got mine - looks beautiful! Now an overnight to let the spray dry and then on to stropping tomorrow!
 
Received mine as well. The attention to detail is amazing! Still need to spray and take photos...

Thanks a lot, Marko!
 
You are welcome.

Spray a light coat and let dry overnight. If you want more density, give it another coat the following day.

We have had rain after rain this past week so I can't get to finishing the rest with poly. Will ship the rest as I get them finished. These orders will include plates and other stuff you guys ordered. Some will go USPS and some UPS.

M
 
Thanks for the directions, Marko!

I'm new to stropping, and was just coming on here to ask for some guidance--glad it was already here! Looking forward to using the strop and spray.

If anyone feels strongly that one coat is enough, or that two is definitely better, please chime in.
 
toddnmd said:
Thanks for the directions, Marko!

I'm new to stropping, and was just coming on here to ask for some guidance--glad it was already here! Looking forward to using the strop and spray.

If anyone feels strongly that one coat is enough, or that two is definitely better, please chime in.
Click to expand...


I typically apply one coat and reapply it every 2-3 weeks. On felt you get benefits of stropping from both felt and diamond, so even if the density is not great, you will still see quite an improvement to your edge.

M
 
The first 5 orders are shipped out.

This week these will be ready to ship. We have had pretty rainy weather in NE - awful for finish to cure, so things have been moving rather slowly.

I will send out a tracking info once the labels are printed and packages are ready for a drop-off.

WildBoar
Johny.B.Good
Von blewin
Anton
Mrmnms
Cookingstuf
 
Can these be irdered thru your webstore? Or is there a wait list wouls like to order 1 w the spray
 
Let me say that as a first strop (albeit quite a fancy and expensive one) the results from the 1 micron spray and the felt has been fantastic. Touching up on carbon has been awesome, revitalizing an 80% edge to 100% with minimal time and without wet mess. Loving this so far! It also helps that the fit and finish is great and my wife doesn't mind this sitting out on a counter (and she hates muddy silpats with drying stones littering my counter!). Since I am a home cook, I genuinely think this will prolong my stones significantly.

Also just a note, if you accidentally get water on this guy it can cause an ugly raised section. Just take a steamy iron on wool setting to it and it will steam the bumps out. I inadvertently took a somewhat wet knife to it and it left a gross tumor looking raised bump. Then googled and found the iron steam solution on another forum.

Thanks again Marko!
 
Thanks for the tip, skiajl6297. Water is only problem for the felt, as far as I know.

I thought stropping prolongs the life of a knife, but now that you mentioned, it also prolongs the life of the stones.

I have been getting numerous inquiries about availability of the strops. The first batch was made to order, and I have to make them in mid-size batches, to make any money on them (I probably broke even on the first run). They are quite labor intensive, particularly the finishing aspect, but I am willing to offer them, as I think they are a good product. It also gives me an opportunity to work with wood. These are made entirely by me - no sourcing out at any stage.

After I ship out the remaining orders, I will do another run of strops and stock them up.

I am also contemplating a group buy for DMT flattening plate (10x4"). These oversize plates are highly efficient at flattening stones, so I think some of you might be interested.

Also, if there is interest, I could offer leather strops on magnetic backing to be used with DMT plates. Leather can be used with diamond spray or felt.

M

I think 1M spray is sufficient, but I am open to stock up on other sizes if there is an interest.

M
 
Marko Tsourkan said:
The first 5 orders are shipped out.

This week these will be ready to ship. We have had pretty rainy weather in NE - awful for finish to cure, so things have been moving rather slowly.

I will send out a tracking info once the labels are printed and packages are ready for a drop-off.

WildBoar
Johny.B.Good
Von blewin
Anton
Mrmnms
Cookingstuf
Click to expand...


Want to add that these are poly finished and the finish turned out pretty good. Had 2 days of a nice weather (for curing finish), so the US orders from above are to go out tomorrow. International will be sent a little later, as I need to combine them with other stuff.

I will send you the tracking number once the packages are in the mail.

Next week what's left of the orders including placed recently (bases, plates, spray, etc) will go out.

Whew!!!

Thanks,
 
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