Sharpening Strap End Punch...not Working :/

[TwinOaks]

I routinely use scrap pieces of leather of all weights and sizes to make my bench strops. It doesn't need to be large, or a specific shape. It just needs to BE.

[dirtclod]

You can make a strop out of a piece of dense cardboard or a cardboard carton that a case of beer or cold drinks come it. They will work fine just make sure you use it on a hard smooth surface. 5/6 ounce leather will work fine to and even better if it's glued to a piece of wood.

[Vanilla]

Being able to use any weight of leather is GREAT to know! Already have some powerful glue, just need to find some scrap wood and get my hands on some polishing paste.

Thank you once more for taking the time to reply; you are all so wonderfully helpful and lovely!

[Vanilla]

Sorry to revive this thread... But: I got the paste and was sharpening my punch tool on both my sharpening stone and on a leather strop I made. I polished it until it was nice and shiny..nice black streaks all over the leather. While it seemed a little sharper at first, it really didn't last long. I didn't even really manage to get it through the leather adequately the one time I did manage to get it to cut through. After that it practically felt worse than before I even started sharpening, and the force of pounding was giving me a headache and undoubtedly pissing off the neighbours...so I ended up having to finish the initial indent by cutting it with my stanley knife - untidy compared to the proper thing. I'm not sure how long I really need to sit there and sharpen; getting the feeling I just don't have the right technique.

I really wish there was a full length video to guide someone through the sharpening process. Seeing as I've been teaching myself to make collars, the lack of a decent strap punch bothers me. I have seen people make it without, but I personally don't like the look. Is there anyone out there (UK based) that would be willing to sharp for a reasonable fee?

[Chief31794]

Sharpening is more of an art than a science, you must maintain the same angle every stroke or you're just working against yourself. I would take it to a machine shop or someone who sharpens blades if you're having that much trouble and have them put a good edge on it, then use a strop often, always pulling the blade away from the edge when using a strop. Additionally, I would invest in a Dead Blow mallet at about 2-3 pounds, I always use dead blow to hit punches as the nature of a dead blow is to put all the force on the work piece due to being loaded with small shot. With a sharp strike from a 2lb mallet and a relatively sharp blade, it should cut through 5/6 oz leather pretty easily.

Chief