Stropping Block Advice

[SmokinAussie]

Hi Fella's.

I've just finished sharpening a friends old hunting knife. I started with 300 grit block as the knife was very damaged and finished on 8000 with one of my expensive Japanese whetsones. I've never used a stropping block though. I'd like to polish the whole knife and finish it off nicely.

Does anyone have recommendations?

My quick search shows this?

Cheers... Hopefully order today if I can.

Oh... Here's the knife:

Bill

 

[bschoen]

$52 for a piece of leather glued to a board? Why not make your own?

 

[gcs]

I've read that a piece of cardboard will work, or leather strap or leather glued to a board. I have a small leather and board strop that I've never used so can't say how much better it would work then what you did with your finishing stone....

 

[ebijack]

I used an old leather belt of mine. I believe one of my SIL's borrowed it years ago and is storing it for me. :doh:

Diesel Dave had a few stopping leathers. I believe one of his favorite came from Australia. I do not remember the animal skin.

 

[toddrhodes]

I have a couple from Burrfection's Etsy page. Admittedly overpaid for them but, they'll last a good long while so... I guess

Newspaper works in a pinch, as does a leather belt, especially if you can clamp the belt in place from a workbench and strop that way. I use a green cream, can't recall the name offhand, applied to my strops. The difference in feel off my stones to my strops, just cutting paper, is noticeable.

 

[lunchman]

That's a crazy price to pay for a piece of leather glued to a board. As a woodworker who needs to keep my chisels and plane irons sharp, I'd recommend a few YouTube channels for ideas on stropping and sharpening.

Paul Sellers out of the UK. He's got a ton of sharpening videos and is an excellent instructor.

Stumpy Nubs. James Hamilton has a wealth of good sharpening videos, he's just posted a 5 part series.

I recently realized that in addition to sharpening my planes and chisels, I needed to strop them as well. The Stumpy Nubs video series made me do it. I took advantage of the current free shipping offer from Lee Valley, a woodworking store here in Canada and the US and bought some Veritas honing compound and a few scraps of leather since I had nothing on hand.

You can either affix the leather to a wood block with spray adhesive or double sided tape. Make up 2 blocks, one with the smooth surface up, one with the rough surface up. Apply the honing compound only to the rough surface of the leather. Strop using the rough surface with the compound first, then finish on the smooth leather.

You don't even need to use a wood block, just some method of holding the leather to your work surface. This allows you to use a single piece of leather and utilize both sides.

Check out those YouTube channels.

Regards,
-Dom

 

[airedale]

$52 for a piece of leather glued to a board? Why not make your own?

In the US Tandy Leather might have some options, like: https://www.tandyleather.com/en/product/heavyweight-natural-cowhide-leather-strips They claim 116 stores worldwide, including some kind of presence in Oz.

 

[SmokinAussie]

$52 for a piece of leather glued to a board? Why not make your own?

And that's why I'm asking the question because I don't know. Could be that I just need some compound as suggested below.

That's a crazy price to pay for a piece of leather glued to a board. As a woodworker who needs to keep my chisels and plane irons sharp, I'd recommend a few YouTube channels for ideas on stropping and sharpening.

Paul Sellers out of the UK. He's got a ton of sharpening videos and is an excellent instructor.

Stumpy Nubs. James Hamilton has a wealth of good sharpening videos, he's just posted a 5 part series.

I recently realized that in addition to sharpening my planes and chisels, I needed to strop them as well. The Stumpy Nubs video series made me do it. I took advantage of the current free shipping offer from Lee Valley, a woodworking store here in Canada and the US and bought some Veritas honing compound and a few scraps of leather since I had nothing on hand.

You can either affix the leather to a wood block with spray adhesive or double sided tape. Make up 2 blocks, one with the smooth surface up, one with the rough surface up. Apply the honing compound only to the rough surface of the leather. Strop using the rough surface with the compound first, then finish on the smooth leather.

You don't even need to use a wood block, just some method of holding the leather to your work surface. This allows you to use a single piece of leather and utilize both sides.

Check out those YouTube channels.

Regards,
-Dom

Thanks Dom, this is really excellent advice. A quick search for the honing paste and I found a store about 10 minutes away that supplies it. I have a day off today so I will go there today and probably buy a strop too. Why? Why not. Everyone needs a little business right now.

Thanks for your help!

Cheers!

Bill

 

[dave12b]

I've used balsa wood and compound with good success on straight razors I have restored.

 

[SmokinAussie]