Homemade Strop Advice

[GoldCoastMitch]

Hello everyone.....

Just threw away a couch that had lots of great leather still in great condition. Want to make my own strops. From what I’ve read the best leather is thick vegetable tanned, but I’ve got lots of furniture grade material to play with.

Better to use inside surface or outside? Best size? I’ve got plenty of leather.

Considering that blue jean denim and cardboard work for stropping, Im hopeful to achieve a good outcome with this.

Any and all advice welcomed. Compounds? Etc......

TIA

Mitch

 

[DHunter86]

Both sides would work, depending on the compound you're using. The under side "suede" would soak up a tonne of diamond paste, so the smooth side might be better if you use that. For Dialux buffing compounds, the suede side would work better as it helps the compound adhere to the leather.

As furniture grade leather is so thin, try to make sure your backing is flat and sturdy. Not much give, so it might aid in ensuring you're not rounding off your edges during stropping. Conversely, you'd need to be more precise with the angle to deburr and clean up your edges.

Hope that helps.

 

[kayman67]

Any diamond stuff on the fine side.
Any oxide stuff on the rough side.

Even if for stropping is not crucial to have a true flat surface, I would try to have one as flat as possible.

Use some glue that is easy to apply in a thin layer and won't make bad hard spots. Make sure the leather surface is as tight as possible once in place.

Don't apply too much compound of any kind. Clean it as needed. Don't use the strop too much. Go coarser if necessary.

Most of the time you don't need a big one, but go with what you feel comfortable.

 

[Bear]

Pick out the best pieces, no creases or imperfections to create bumps, I use contact adhesive applied to both surfaces, if its soft leather stick on the top then gently pull the leather tight and stick on. The good thing about contact adhesive is that it releases when you apply heat in case you have to change it out.

 

[VicWire]

Better to use inside surface or outside?

Since you got plenty of leather, you could make a two sided strop with different surfaces on each side.

 

[Kawa]

I glued the leather to a piece of wood. The wood was costless: go to the hardware store and ask if you can get a small piece out of their woodbin. Costumers who want their shelf sawed by the store always leave leftover pieces at the store. They throw it away, but might give you a piece.

My size is about 25 cm long and 7 cm wide, about 2 cm in heigth. This way I have the size of a large sharpening stone. The way I strop is the same motion as edge trailing strokes on my stone. I kinda guessed if I mimic the same motion as sharpening, I might help myself be consistent while stropping. So therefor not a strop with a handle for me.. I see lots of strops which are smaller then 7cm (wide), but I think that 'broad' 7cm helps my knife be more stable (more room for uneven pressure when you stroke the whole edge heel-to-tip in one complete stroke. I dont sharpen in one complete heel-to-tip motion, so that movement is harder for me)

I used glue that is also used by shoemakers for patching up leather on worn shoes. That way you know for sure it will not make a hard spot or leak through.
Put about 10 kg of books on the strop for a night, and youre ready to go (bare or load it).

 

[tostadas]

Carpet tape is an easy way to secure your leather to wood. It's faster than contact cement and fairly easy to replace when needed.

 

[Robert Lavacca]

When I made my felt strop, I used that 3M spray adhesive and it was so easy. I’ll never use anything else. So easy to apply and a perfect thin layer sprayed out onto my surface. I had to re glue a crappy CKTG piece of leather back to the magnetic backings they use and it was a nightmare. Spray adhesive was a breeze. I do like the idea of heating up what you’re using to release though. I have to make the other two felt strops I wanted to make. Been slackin.