My homemade strop

[mikej7193]

I just put this strop together for less than $5. Using it to touch up a honing seems like it works well. It's 3" wide and the usable length is 15". It's not the prettiest piece of leather, it has a few small imperfections, but I think it will serve my purpose well for a long time, then maybe graduate into a traveling strop since it is easy to latch onto anything. Is there anything I should do to this to aid in stropping? Thanks for any input

 

[UPD]

If you make a spanner, or make two or three connection points on the end to pull evenly across the width of the strop, then it will help prevent cupping. Just pulling from the center might cause some cupping on you. Just an idea.

 

[mikej7193]

I might try the spanner idea. Thanks for your input!

 

[Wid]

Or you could lose the string and hold it as you would a barbers end.

 

[Nobody]

I can't help but ask. Did you finish the surface in any way?

 

[Alum of Potash]

I very much admire your DIY approach from the start here, but I can't help but agree with the above responses. I can see cupping already in the second picture showing the strop as held. Treat the bottom as a barber's end instead (index finger held beneath acts as a support there, with an independent metal clamp or bridge spanning support at the top), but this will probably demand a slightly longer piece of leather. Don't know why, but one of those office-type clips analogous to a classic clipboard immediately "springs" to mind as a support at the top--this could then be fastened to the wall, door, towel rack, whatever, via a leather shoelace. Nobody's question about the surface finish also holds true. I've had good look attacking generic leather surfaces with a 200x, 400x, 600x wet-dry sandpaper sequence, using circular strokes and a small matchbox-sized block of wood. The resulting exposed finish, resembles Russian leather. So, how to treat it beyond this, if needed?

 

[Nobody]

Nobody's question about the surface finish also holds true. I've had good look attacking generic leather surfaces with a 200x, 400x, 600x wet-dry sandpaper sequence, using circular strokes and a small matchbox-sized block of wood. The resulting exposed finish, resembles Russian leather. So, how to treat it beyond this, if needed?

I was actually thinking of a different aspect. Leather is a thirsty creature and likes a little oil or fat if it hasn't already been treated. It will happily take water as well in that state. A plain tooling leather strap with the fibers swolen a bit with the right oils can work decently, be more flexible, and last longer. Trust me on this one: water+untreated tooling leather+stropping=bad.

That does at least look like tooling leather or close relative.

 

[smalltank]

D rings?

 

[Alum of Potash]

I was actually thinking of a different aspect. Leather is a thirsty creature and likes a little oil or fat if it hasn't already been treated. It will happily take water as well in that state. A plain tooling leather strap with the fibers swolen a bit with the right oils can work decently, be more flexible, and last longer. Trust me on this one: water+untreated tooling leather+stropping=bad.

That does at least look like tooling leather or close relative.

Thanks for your remarks here. My sandpapering has been done with loom and paddle strops, then followed by Dovo red & black sharpening pastes, which seems to have held things at bay. Recently, though, I removed some CrOx from a paddle this way for knives in the kitchen--the leather surface from start had been too hard and the CrOx did not take to it. I then stropped three knives with it with the slight velour as revealed and this seemed to work well in the short run; but your remarks have made me think that at least some neatsfoot oil would be helpful here. With a hanging strop especially, perhaps neatsfoot or yellow Dovo paste then?

 

[Nobody]

Thanks for your remarks here. My sandpapering has been done with loom and paddle strops, then followed by Dovo red & black sharpening pastes, which seems to have held things at bay. Recently, though, I removed some CrOx from a paddle this way for knives in the kitchen--the leather surface from start had been too hard and the CrOx did not take to it. I then stropped three knives with it with the slight velour as revealed and this seemed to work well in the short run; but your remarks have made me think that at least some neatsfoot oil would be helpful here. With a hanging strop especially, perhaps neatsfoot or yellow Dovo paste then?

Personally, I'd go with neatsfoot, mink oil, or something of that nature. Most leather conditioning concoctions without petroleum should be helpful as well but heat them to a liquid state before application if they are heavy. You may be surprised how fast it will absorb at first. If you want the strop more flexible just start adding the conditioner and flex it repeatedly. Should soften up some.

 

[mikej7193]

I will follow your suggestions for adding support to prevent the cupping. Thanks for that everyone. I have treated the leather with some neatsfoot oil. I put it on often until it slowed down. It might benefit from a second coat.

For a support, would a thin wood backing be a bad idea? I've got some 1/4" baltic birch plywood that I could use easily. I haven't seen baltic birch plywood warp much, even at 1/4" thick

 

[Toxic515]

you might just put a small dowel at the end of it, put a couple of extra holes in the end, and tie it on there.. Then string from the exposed ends of the dowel for your rawhide or string handle. Does that make sense?? It does to me, but in reading it, I'm not so sure...

 

[Alum of Potash]

For a support, would a thin wood backing be a bad idea? I've got some 1/4" baltic birch plywood that I could use easily. I haven't seen baltic birch plywood warp much, even at 1/4" thick

If you are thinking to back the entire strop with this, then we are talking a paddle or a bench strop here, rather than a hanging strop as given, which is a different design. Perhaps it is better to stick with the hanging strop for the time being, to see how it goes, and then turn it into a paddle strop if it doesn't work out? You could always narrow the width then as well. The main thing with the hanging strop as given is to give some support to the attached end. The old barber's end strops were very economical regarding how much leather the support occupied. Basically, two pieces of metal sandwich at the far end to keep that part of the strop flat, and your off-hand index finger does the same with the other end. Just thinking out loud here, but I wonder if two 1/4" x ~1" pieces of wood cut slightly longer than the width of leather, with tightening screws at each end, and an eye-hole for an attaching a string or leather thong in the middle, wouldn't do the trick at the top of the strop.