Next Project - Making A Strop

[Chubbs]

I am wanting to make myself a knife strop. Anybody know the best places where I can find a decent bit of leather for one. Also, what is the best honing paste to use.

If anybody has a spare piece long enough to make one and possibly a smaller pocket one like Fish made, I could offer a trade of maybe a nice pot of fresh Cornish Clotted Cream for your Christmas pudding !!. If anybody is interested, please give me a shout soon as I will need to buy and post it today for guaranteed delivery before Christmas.

Cheers Neil

[ian c]

Try the second hand shops for second hand leather belts or your local boot fair.

[Adam Savage]

Second vote for the charity shops. I've made a couple from leather belts. Once you rough up the finished surface a little, to get rid of the coating they use, it bonds really well to wood, by just using normal wood glue and a few clamps.
I've tried old leather boots, but they don't give you a very big piece of leather, and old handbags/satchels/etc seem to be a little on the thin side.
If you get really stuck, I can pop a couple pieces in the post to you. :)

Adam

[Primerib]

Yeah! Looking for a Leatherbelt would also be my first advice. You can buy ready to use polishing paste for example from PUMA which is quite famous also along oldskool razorblade users. But there is a much cheaper way. Go to an artists or paintersshop and ask for a few grams of green pigment. In 99% it will be chrome oxide which is more or less the same as in PUMA polishing paste. I bought a hand crafted hanging strop belt which was not yet fitted with a polishing agent. The man who crafted the strop delivered a small tin with chrome oxide powder. Mix the tip of a teespoon with a drop of oil and then rub it on the belt...let the oil harden for 1-2 days. I used Ballistol Oil (Don't know if you have heard of it but in Germany it is very famous) Any access oxide will take care of itself when stropping. Once you have treated your strop this way it will last for quite a while till you have to retreat it. But a lil hint I was grateful for was...don't treat the entire belt. Only do half and you while have the other half untreated for extremely fine polishing without the polishing agent.

That's the way I do it...If this is the perfect solution...dunno but it works for me!

You will never achieve better results sharpening without a strop. You'll probably be astonished how hairpopping sharp the knives get after a good strop. Have fun!

[Chubbs]

I think I will stop been a skinflint and just buy a piece. Went into five charity shops today and not one had a leather belt.

What do you guys recommend.

Neil

[Adam Savage]

Something like this from that famous auction site would be perfect. It's just under £10, but you can get a good few strops out of it, and maybe sell one or two to get your money back?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-8-TOOLING-NATURAL-VEG-TAN-LEATHER-BELT-BLANK-52-132cm-x-1-1-2-38mm-/380455425799?pt=UK_Crafts_Leathercraft_LE&hash=item5894e91707

[Chubbs]

Thanks Adam. Not a bad price as well mate.

Have just ordered some.

[Adam Savage]

No problem mate. Shouldn't need to rough up the grain side too much to get it to bond to the board either. as it's not been sealed with anything special.
Also, they don't have holes punched in them, so you won't have a foot of holy leather off the end :)

If you decide to sell any of the strops you make, you shouldn't have any problem shifting them on here. Plenty folk look for them regularly. If you don't get any takers, I'd be happy to buy one off of you. Saves me the time and effort of making another one, plus it'll help you toward the cost of the leather, glue, etc ;)