making a leather strop

[billd]

I searched this forum and "googled" it, got several conflicting answers.  Which side of the leather is up when making a strop?  Or which side gets the glue?


Thanks,
Bill

[Larry Luck]

Bill.

I have a 1/2x3x15" board with smooth side on one side and rough side on the other.  Generally, I strop with the rough side.  On another piece, I have taken and cut furrows with gouges of different radii and use it to strop them.  Still don't keep my tools sharp enough!

Larry Luck

[PPatch]

Bill I make strops by gluing old leather belts to pine board backing. usually I leave the slick, finished, side up but if the back side is pretty smooth I will sometimes use that too. Those are for finishing knife edges, flat chisels and outside surfaces of rounded ones. For the inside radius of curved chisels I make a pine form and glue thin leather to them and with that sort of leather it does not matter much which side is up. All of them are given a honing type rouge coating before use. I use automotive valve lapping compound on the smaller rounded chisel strops.

dave

[JohnTyg]

I place red rouge on the smooth side for any stropping.  If you use the rough side when you apply pressure on the edge you are polishing, the material can rise up following the edge as it passes over the rougher material and "round over" the edge you are trying to sharpen.  Not sure if my explanation/description is clear.  Made many knives prior to my first gun and get more control of the polish in the edge of knives and tools with the smooth side.  Hope this helps.

John

[Larry Luck]

PPatch and John,

Thanks for the information.  I guess I've been doing more harm than good, stropping on the rough side.  I appreciate the explanation.

Larry Luck

[billd]

Thanks for the replies.  Over on the blade forum and knifesmiths forum there are people who use them both ways.  It always seemed to me the smooth side would work best.  I'll try one that way.  I never thought of cutting grooves for gouges. 

Thanks,
BIll

[Dogshirt]

In most of his leather carving books, Al Stohlman always recommended using paperboard, as from a cereal box,
to strop swivel knives, head knives and such. Not very HC, but I found it to work well on ALL my knives and chisels.

[Mark Horvat]

I learned this from an old saddle maker.  He used veg. tanned leather with the rough side up attached to a 1x2.  One side he would rub with the grit that comes off your sharpening stones (he had carborundum) the other side was ruby polishing compound.  Anytime he picked up a knife he would swipe it across the strop a couple of time.  Worked for him and it has worked for me for the last 40 years.

Mark

[Acer Saccharum]

I use straight grained basswood, maple or poplar as a strop. For stropping the inside of gouges you can shape the wood to the proper curvature. To strop the outside of a gouge, you can cut a groove with the same gouge, and load the groove with compound.

For really small vee tools, I use brass as a strop, and file it to the proper angle for good contact.

[PPatch]

I use straight grained basswood, maple or poplar as a strop. For stropping the inside of gouges you can shape the wood to the proper curvature. To strop the outside of a gouge, you can cut a groove with the same gouge, and load the groove with compound.

For really small vee tools, I use brass as a strop, and file it to the proper angle for good contact.

With the brass what compound do you use?

[whitebear]

I have never done a strop for chisels, maybe I should, but being trained as a barber we were told to use the smooth side of the leather on our razors.