How do you make a leather strop?

[Dwight]

I've got a couple of em . . . one is glued to a board, . . .  one is just a piece of leather.

Both have just white jeweler's rouge on them, . . . both sharpen scissors, knives, razor cutters, chisels, . . . and just about anything else I want to slap on there.

Main part is to see (and watch as you use it) black residue being deposited on the strop.  If it is not, . . . no "cutting" action is being done.  If black is being deposited, . . . you are moving metal.

The most important part is not the strop, . . . but the technique, . . . which I cannot teach here, . . . not enough space.  Sufficient to say, . . . practice a bit, . . . check your progress, . . . change what you are doing when it is not working.  It will probably not be the strop, . . . but your technique.

ALWAYS, . . . pull your blade along the strop AWAY from the sharp edge.  Watch your angle, . . . try to duplicate the one the factory put on there.  

If you are not sure if you have the right angle, . . . blacken the edge with a permanent black sharpie pen, . . . strop a few times, . . . then look at your tool and see where the black came off.  It should have been completely along the angle of the grind, . . . if not, . . . adjust accordingly.

May God bless,

Dwight

[Clintonville Leather]

Just to add to the good advice here.  In my experience green compound works best for tool steel

[bikermutt07]

Funny how this thread just came to me this morning.

For the last four years I have been using just a piece of 4 oz veg tan for a strop. No wood, just this sad little piece of leather. 

Just last night I finally made a strop for my splitter. I mean literally just last night.

I used a piece of 1x3 poplar and a piece of black drum dyed Herman Oak 8 oz vegtan. 

I was going to put a flesh side and a grain side to it. But after taking a wire brush to the grain side for adhesion, I decided I liked the looks of that. So, I glued it scuffy grain side up.

I think it'll do fine.

The bad part of this? I'm a freaking carpenter for Pete's sake. I've had access to wood all this time. And never bothered with making a strop. Guess I'm just lazy.

[Rockoboy]

On ‎3‎/‎7‎/‎2019 at 6:11 PM, bikermutt07 said:

Guess I'm just lazy.

I think you misspelt 'busy'!

[bikermutt07]

Just now, Rockoboy said:

I think you misspelt 'busy'!

Ha, nope.

[Rockoboy]

1 minute ago, bikermutt07 said:

2 minutes ago, Rockoboy said:

I think you misspelt 'busy'!

Ha, nope.

Things to do, people to see, place's to go ... then there's family, work, sleeping, life and things get put on the back burner. I do what I can, and leave the rest for another day, but I believe its no good beating myself up over it.