Questions about tool sharpening strops

[Ray Hatley]

What are the critical design features of a good leather tool sharpening strop?

What is the ideal size for a leather tool sharpening strop?

Single sided or double sided?

Would it be best to mount a leather strop on a wooden base?

I have a feeling that this is a personal decision thing so any help and suggestions would be gratefully received. Thanks, Ray

 

[Paul Chapman]

Hi Ray,

Here's mine

I bought the piece of leather from Mike Hudson of Clifton planes. Mike's at most of the shows and usually has a supply with him.

I glued together two pieces of 18mm MDF and glued the leather to that. As a honing compound I use jewellers rouge (that's the maroon coloured bar in the photo), mixed with a little Vaseline (not too much). Mike sells a blue coloured honing compound but that can go a little hard in cold weather. I find that the jewellers rouge stays soft even in cold weather.

When using blades on it, I keep them in the honing guide and draw them backwards on the strop to polish the bevel side, then take the blade out of the guide and, holding it dead flat on the strop, draw it backwards to do the flat side. Half a dozen times will give you a mirror finish and razor-sharp edge.

Just be careful not to round over the edge.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[wizer]

Ray I have sent you a PM.

 

[Karl]

Ray

My take on a "strop" - a scrap of MDF and the honing soap (green then white) sold by Axminster. Absolutely superb and lasts for ages.

Cheers

Karl

 

[Ray Hatley]

Hi Ray,

Here's mine

Paul

That looks very usable, Paul. Does the double thickness MDF base offer any advantages over a single thickness?

Ray

 

[Paul Chapman]

Does the double thickness MDF base offer any advantages over a single thickness?

The main thing is to make sure that the strop is as flat as possible. It doesn't need to be that thick but, as I don't have a permanent sharpening area in my workshop (garage), I made it thick so that it was easier to hold in the vice, between bench dogs or wherever else I might wish to use it.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[wizer]

Ray I don't know if your picking up PM's

Do you have a means to cut the MDF up into blocks? I am happy to help if not.

 

[bugbear]

What are the critical design features of a good leather tool sharpening strop?

Having an abrasive finer than your finest stone.

Seriously.

http://www3.telus.net/BrentBeach/Sharpen/Stropping.html

BugBear

 

[ByronBlack]

I just glued a piece of leather that I cut from a leather tool-roll (after it rusted my AI chisels to a piece of MDF and use autosol as the abrasive - I get a beautiful sharp and uber polished edge.

 

[MIGNAL]

The harder the leather the better - or at least a soft leather will have a tendency to round over the edge. I usually don't use any compound on my leather strop - I go from the green compound on a hardwood board and just use the leather strop as the final finish.

Here's an interesting discussion :roll:

http://www.straightrazorplace.com/forum ... strop.html

Oh and there might be an issue with using MDF as a baseboard - I'm sure it's a perfectly suitable material but does it send out the wrong message? You decide.

 

[Ray Hatley]

Here are my own strops (I told you I wasn't a woodworker!) - each is double sided. One is 3-4mm leather mounted onto 1/2" softwood and the other is 3-4mm leather onto a boxwood board. They work well for me but would the same design work for a woodworker?

I use three grades of abrasive compound on my strops plus a piece of plain leather (the top image). I wouldn't get my knives sharp enough without them. I like the idea of Autosol!

The MDF discussion interests me:

Is this an aesthetic issue? IMHO it really is ugly stuff...
Is this a functionality issue? Is it hardwearing enough?
Is this an ecological issue? Should we use a sustainable softwood?

I have no real answers to these questions -any thoughts?

The razor forum merely suggest to me that some people have far too much time on their hands... LOL

Thanks for your comments, Paul. Most helpful.

 

[Paul Chapman]

They work well for me but would the same design work for a woodworker?

Hi Ray,

Your strops look a little narrower than mine. For plane blades I prefer them wider so as to ensure that the flat side of the blade is pressed down dead flat on the strop.

For me the choice of MDF came down to flatness and stability. Real wood would be more inclined to warp and generally move about with fluctuations in temperature and humidity.

However, as the endless discussions about honing demonstrate, all woodworkers tend to have their own ideas about what is best.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[MIGNAL]

Quarter sawn Beech would be fine if you are going the hardwood route. If it's well seasoned it should be stable enough for a strop. I doubt that a strop needs to be real flat anyway.
You could make one side with 'grips' so that it could be placed on a bench, preventing it from sliding around. A brass eyelet screwed into the top edge for storage purposes? Just some thoughts.

 

[bugbear]

Here are my own strops (I told you I wasn't a woodworker!)

The tools in shot would indicate that leather is quite central to your work, not just for making strops...

BugBear

 

[Ray Hatley]

The tools in shot would indicate that leather is quite central to your work, not just for making strops...

BugBear

Check out my website: www.barefootleather.blogspot.com for more information! I know next to nothing about woodwork and only came to the forum to find people to collaborate with. The strops are a kind of by-product...

Ideally I'd like to find a woodworker in the West Midlands / Shropshire who would work with me to develop exciting new products - but I'd be very happy to hear from anyone who has ideas for combining leather and wood.