Jewellers's rouge and leather for strop

[crackerjack]

Hi there

Been looking at Paul Chapman's great guide to sharpening a no 80 scraper.
Getting on well but really could do with trying out a leather strop along with an abrasive compound.

Thing is where on earth do I get some Jeweller's rouge from?

and also..........

Where can I get some leather from to make a stop? Can it be any old leather?

Have done a quick look on google but no joy.

Cheers, Jack

 

[Paul Chapman]

If you get to any of the woodworking shows, Mike Hudson of Clifton is usually there demonstrating his planes. I bought my pieces of leather from him - he usually has several pieces with him. I think Axminster sell bars of jewellers rouge.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

PS Found it http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.asp? ... =1&jump=44

 

[JohnCee]

I have an old pair of crotchless leather chaps that I am currently recycling for strops. PM me if interested.

















PS. Only Joking!

 

[BMac]

I got super quality, wide leather belts in the local Oxfam shop. The original prices were on them, £54 each, £3 each to me.

Brendan

 

[Smudger]

How many do you get out of a belt for goodness' sake? Must be loads.

I bought mine as strops, the local ironmongers had several and I bought them all. Mind you, they also sell plane irons etc., so may not be typical.

 

[BMac]

Yeah, I got 2 long wide strops from one belt and 4 narrower strops from the other that I gave away.

Brendan

 

[woodbloke]

Rouge works well...it's the finest of the jewellers polishes, but it's also desirable to lubricate the strop as well. I use Vaseline (a finger full from time to time rubbed into the leather) A boot and shoe repairers would seem an obvious place to try for a thickish bit of leather...you don't need anything fancy. Make sure it's glued down to a flat bit of material (mdf) - Rob

 

[crackerjack]

thanks for the link paul and the input guys

Will try a shoe repair shop for the leather.

or maybe find an old belt.

Have noticed that Classic handtools sell leather strops but they are only 50mm wide. Surely they have to be as wide as the blade you're sharpening. The blade on my no 80 is 2.5 inches?

Cheers, Jack

 

[Chris J]

Cookson Gold is probably the best Jewelery supplier


http://www.cooksongold.com/

 

[Saint Simon]

Should I be using some vaseline on my Tormek honing wheel too? I am currently just using Autosol paste which does seem to dry out quite quickly.
Simon

 

[Smudger]

I use Tormek's honing paste, bought from Axminster. It does seem very similar to Autosol.
How often do I need to re-oil the wheel?

 

[woodbloke]

Should I be using some vaseline on my Tormek honing wheel too? I am currently just using Autosol paste which does seem to dry out quite quickly.
Simon

Yup...works well - Rob

 

[George_N]

I currently use a piece of MDF smeared with Autosol, which works well. I do have a couple of old leather belts lying in the workshop that I have been thinking of making into strops...just waiting for the TUIT to arrive.

 

[Lons]

Should I be using some vaseline on my Tormek honing wheel too? I am currently just using Autosol paste which does seem to dry out quite quickly.
Simon

Yup...works well - Rob

Is vaseline better than the thin oil Tormek recommend?

Just taken delivery of a T7 and haven't even assembled it yet so would be very interested in your experience.

Thanks in advance

 

[Steve Maskery]

I recycle my old handbags. They make good strops.

BTW, don't get confused between AutoSol and Anusol. Not the same thing.

DAMHIKT

S

 

[woodbloke]

Should I be using some vaseline on my Tormek honing wheel too? I am currently just using Autosol paste which does seem to dry out quite quickly.
Simon

Yup...works well - Rob

Is vaseline better than the thin oil Tormek recommend?

Just taken delivery of a T7 and haven't even assembled it yet so would be very interested in your experience.

Thanks in advance

I think you could use almost anything that gave a bit of lubrication to the wheel or leather...it's not critical. It's just that Vaseline comes in a reasonable sized container and is fairly neutral regarding smell and ease of handling. Old sump oil would work just as well, but I'm not sure I'd want to dip my finger in it :wink: - Rob

 

[bugbear]

I use Tormek's honing paste, bought from Axminster. It does seem very similar to Autosol.

Really? One of the rather special properties of Autosol is that it breaks down quite rapidly, giving the effect of a sequence of grits without having to change grits.

Whilst this is a lovely property in a polish, it doesn't seem desirable for a strop.

BugBear

 

[Racers]

Hi, BB

I use Autosol in my strop and I get good results, I also have some bars of soap for buffing wheels but I haven't needed to test them out, may be I should.


Pete

 

[Richard T]

I've read that people use some kind of polish/abrasive on strops before; I was always told that a strop should be clean and dry, as the action of stropping is to align the molecules along the edge of a previously (abrasively) sharpened blade.
My razor strop is german pigskin ('spensive too) and I wouldn't dream of putting anything on it - the nap is just perfect.
I would think that if an edge were stroped with anything abrasive it would round the underside of the edge.
(BTW, for jeweller's polish, definatly Cookson's in the Brum J. Quarter. Lots of different professional grades.)

 

[bugbear]

I've read that people use some kind of polish/abrasive on strops before; I was always told that a strop should be clean and dry, as the action of stropping is to align the molecules along the edge of a previously (abrasively) sharpened blade.

I'd like to see evidence on that last point. Molecules are mighty tiny thing to align.

The only "non abrasive" sharpening I've seen evidence for is steeling, which is a sort of cold forging.

All the photo-micrographs I've seen of stropped edges show abrasion.

BugBear