Making a strop board question

[KJDedge]

I have a 24” by 2 3/4“ kangaroo strop that’s suede on one side and smooth on the other….I was going to contact cement it to wood…..
which side should I apply the glue to?….. or should I consider cutting the strop in half and glue thereby having a suede side and a smooth side to strop with….
this will be for kitchen knives, not a razor..

 

[KJDedge]

Also would you recommend applying a diamond paste or other?
and what size ?

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

Is it a hanging strop?

 

[KJDedge]

No …just to a wooden board

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

No …just to a wooden board

I meant is the kangaroo strop you have a hanging strop?

 

[stringer]

I have a 24” by 2 3/4“ kangaroo strop that’s suede on one side and smooth on the other….I was going to contact cement it to wood…..
which side should I apply the glue to?….. or should I consider cutting the strop in half and glue thereby having a suede side and a smooth side to strop with….
this will be for kitchen knives, not a razor..

This is definitely a personal preference thing. I would try both sides with several different knives with it just laid on a firm surface and naked before you commit to any glue or compound or cutting leather. Figure out what you like.

For me personally, I like the suede side with cbn/diamond compund for helping with the deburr process when coming off of very coarse stones.

I don't really use the smooth side for knives only razors. For knives after finishing and for touchups I prefer linen or denim. I have diamond and cbn and old school green/white/red/black compounds. I could take them or leave them to be perfectly honest. I usually keep cbn on my favorite denim strop. But I rarely use it anymore. I mostly just use small naturals for touchups and such. But there are no right and wrong answers here.

 

[KJDedge]

It has a hole at one end…so maybe…haha

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

I agree with @stringer both about using it as is on a hard surface and the personal preference thing.

There are people firmly in several different camps when it comes to strops. I think it many ways, at the risk of a pun, it's splitting hairs and individual preferences can be influenced by a variety of factors.

I'd just buy a separate strop. The only kangaroo hide that I honestly believe makes a difference is from the tail. Dr. Vadim (RIP) did a fair bit of work about that and it all made enough sense to convince me. So, for me, hide type wouldn't be an issue so no reason to specifically use the on-hand roo strop unless it was just cuz it was there.

Like @stringer, I like the suede side for deburring. I generally use CrO compound on that side for that purpose but unlike him, I like a few swipes on bare smooth leather too. I prefer diamond on harder mediums but admittedly haven't done enough experimenting to have a strong opinion.