Getting started in stropping.

[J_SAMa]

Have a look at this video clip by Garrett Hack in which he demonstrates honing a chisel and finishing with a wooden strop and diamond paste http://www.finewoodworking.com/SkillsAn ... x?id=28819

I've met Garrett Hack and seen how sharp his blades are using this method. They are very sharp.

You can get two types of diamond paste - one water-based the other oil-based. I use the DMT one which is oil-based, available from Classic Hand Tools http://www.classichandtools.com/acatalo ... mpund.html

Cheers :wink:

Paul

Hi Paul,

I've thought about buying those pastes but isn't 1 micron still a little rough? I know DMT never sells crap, but I'd rather use fine Japanese waterstones if its only 1 micron.
So what about Nortons 1/4 and 1/2 micron diamond pastes offered in this kit on Rutlands? http://www.rutlands.co.uk/hand-tools/sh ... 1_2-micron
Their stones have a good reputation but I'm not so sure about their diamond pastes...

Sam

 

[Paul Chapman]

Hi Sam,

I think you are worrying too much :wink: The 1 micron paste (or even Autosol) will give you super-sharp blades.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[bugbear]

I've thought about buying those pastes but isn't 1 micron still a little rough? I know DMT never sells rubbish, but I'd rather use fine Japanese waterstones if its only 1 micron.

What waterstone are you planning to obtain that's affordable and finer than 1 micron?

BugBear

 

[GazPal]

All I tend to use to make strops from are 5mm thick veg tanned leather blanks - mounted on a 25mm thick pine offcut - and load them using grey/blue honing paste by Starkie & Starkie (Starkie Sharp). There's no specified grit size, but it raises a mirror polish and leaves you with an extremely keen edge. One block of honing paste lasts for years and I'm now only onto my second block (Since investing in three blocks) since the mid 80's and only because one of my labradors ate the first block #-o , but prior to that I simply used clean leather sourced from a local saddler or the palm of my hand for stropping away residual sharpening bur.

I've also found inexpensive chamois leathers make excellent strops when glued to a shellac sealed pine base. :wink:

MDF has a habit of distorting when moistened/wetted (It can double in thickness if soaked) and this can have a poor impact as the resulting convex contour ghosts/telegraphs through from beneath the stropping medium as it swells.

This is woodwork and not brain surgery, so I'd not worry too much over micron fine adjustments to an edge, because ultimate edge finesse flies out of the window after the first few swipes of the plane or chisel on wood anyway. :wink:

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I can't help thinking that some of us would have done the job in the time that others would have spent sharpening the chisels.

 

[Jacob]

I can't help thinking that some of us would have done the job in the time that others would have spent sharpening the chisels.

:lol:
The main thing for our OP to consider are;
1. How much money he spends on wood compared to tools and toolery.
2 How much time on making as against tool fiddling.
If the ratio for both isn't something above say 50:1 then he's completely missed the point!

 

[Racers]

Maybe we should just answer the OP questions instead of criticizing.

Pete

 

[Jacob]

Maybe we should just answer the OP questions instead of criticizing.

Pete

I think we have pretty well. Theres's some common sense advice above. Basically; any old bit of leather and some metal polish.
But he also needs to be talked down a touch - he's got the crazy sharpening virus and is gibbering on about microns etc. Only for his own good of course!

 

[Racers]

Why does he need to be talked down? that's just your opinion which you could keep to your self.

Pete

 

[Jacob]

Why does he need to be talked down? that's just your opinion which you could keep to your self.

Pete

Everybody posts their own opinions. If they kept them to themselves there wouldn't be a forum.
You do talk rubbish Pete. I bet that's not just my opinion!

 

[Racers]

Start a poll

Pete

 

[bugbear]

Start a poll

Pete

Jacob's way or the highway?

BugBear

 

[GazPal]

Start a poll

Pete

For a split second I thought the chat was swinging across to spar planes

 

[Jacob]

Start a poll

Pete

For a split second I thought the chat was swinging across to spar planes

I had to look up 'spar planes'. For poles not polls!

Pete's poll could be entertaining. Give the old farts a chance to huff n puff in the light before being taken back to their padded cells. :lol:

 

[Racers]

Never miss a chance to insult do you jacob

Pete

 

[J_SAMa]

Hi Jacob and Pete,

Yeah... So the original topic is about stropping...
Anyways, since peoples' opinions differ, I've decided that I'm just going to experiment with different things.
For stropping compound, I'm going to try diamond paste first. I think it's agreed that they cut very quickly. I will go 1 micron diamond paste as Gary made a point that extremely sharp edges don't get retained very well anyway. Maybe in the near future I'll try some finer stuff on my more heavy-duty carpenter's chisels, since they are really hard and hold an edge extremely well (they're actually just some cheap ones from Bahco, but they perform rather well), but I think it's probably not going to work with my softer bench chisels.
I'm going to try it on MDF, pinewood, leather belt and plate glass. Plate glass sounds like a crazy idea (I doubt if anyone here has tried it) but since it's dead flat I don't see a reason why it won't work. If none of them are good enough I'm probably going to try Veritas' steel honing plate.

Sam

PS: what's a "spar plane" and how does it have anything to do with this topic...

 

[Big Gaz]

Buy yourself a piece of strop leather and green veritas honing compound from Peter Sefton Tool Shop ...

Google it

Regards

 

[GazPal]

You can re-sharpen razor blades on glass. :wink:

Spar planes are used when making poles and masts/spars. I mentioned it after Pete mentioned taking a poll.

You can actually use chamois leather pva glued to a flat sub strata as a stropping medium loaded with various compounds. It works extremely well for flat blades as well as for shaped carving chisels and I'll take a pic of one I use and email it to you Sam.

 

[Racers]

Hi, Sam

Try Autosol on anything glass, MDF, leather, I find it works very well.

Pete

 

[bugbear]

I'm going to try it on MDF, pinewood, leather belt and plate glass. Plate glass sounds like a crazy idea (I doubt if anyone here has tried it) but since it's dead flat I don't see a reason why it won't work.

Jeff Gorman wrote an article (Good Woodworking, probably) featuring liquid chrome polish on glass as the ultimate step in a sharpening sequence.

BugBear