Got the same leather Knifenut1013 used in his thread. (For reference: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/640503-Make-a-leather-strop) Though I am wondering if it is dry and needs some strop dressing. How would I tell? Also, the guys at Woodcraft said I could use rosin from a sports store as a strop dressing. Would that be ok or should I just order some actual strop dressing? I am going to look for rubber cement tomorrow. Now I just have to decide how I want to cut the leather. I had the gentleman at Wood craft cut some ply wood into three 2 x 12" strips. So I could either make a bunch of 6 x 2" stops or go for three 2 x 12" strops. Recommendations would be welcome there as well.
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Got leather for a strop. How do I know if it is dry and what to use if it is dry?
- Thread starter Squashfan
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I'd be cautious about using the sporting goods store rosin for the dressing, without actually knowing what it's made of. Whatever's used on the strop, generally 'simpler is better'. If there are waxes or similar stuff in the rosin, it may be counter-productive, and may also be difficult to clean out of the leather if you don't like it.
If you do want to treat the leather, it's safer to do it with something that's made for it. A dedicated strop dressing shouldn't harm or degrade stropping performance at all, so there's little risk in giving it a go, whether the leather is dry or not. If you want to, do some bare-leather stropping with one of your good edges on the (assumed) dry leather first, and see how it feels and works; then apply the dressing and get a feel for how it works with the leather (may want to give it some time to sink in & dry, to get a more reliable gauge for it).
Edited to add:
If anything, the rosin may be something to experiment with on a piece of scrap leather, instead of on the pricier stuff. Nothing's more frustrating than treating an expensive strop with the 'wrong' compound or whatever, figuring out you don't like it, and then later having to figure out how to clean it up and start over.
David
If you do want to treat the leather, it's safer to do it with something that's made for it. A dedicated strop dressing shouldn't harm or degrade stropping performance at all, so there's little risk in giving it a go, whether the leather is dry or not. If you want to, do some bare-leather stropping with one of your good edges on the (assumed) dry leather first, and see how it feels and works; then apply the dressing and get a feel for how it works with the leather (may want to give it some time to sink in & dry, to get a more reliable gauge for it).
Edited to add:
If anything, the rosin may be something to experiment with on a piece of scrap leather, instead of on the pricier stuff. Nothing's more frustrating than treating an expensive strop with the 'wrong' compound or whatever, figuring out you don't like it, and then later having to figure out how to clean it up and start over.
David
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Leather can always benefit from being fed the proper foods... but only once or twice a year, and only on a bare or cleaned strop. There is no need to apply a conditioner to leather more often unless the leather is exposed to the weather, such as saddles or bridles.
Best would be 'Lexol' leather conditioner, but be advised that you would need no more than a quarter of a teaspoon or less for strop. Don't drench the leather with it; put some on a rag and rub it in, let it sit for a while, then rub off the excess. This stuff is good for any leather other than suede or reptile, but does come in a larger can.
2nd best would be good quality 'shoe cream.' (NOT wax shoe 'polish.') You can find little tins or jars of this in almost any shoe store or department store shoe area. Again, use it sparingly. 2-3 pea-sized dots spread out and rubbed into the leather with your fingers. Again, let it sit for a while and wipe off the excess.
3rd best would be a commercially available Strop Dressing sold by knife shops. I rank this below the others simply because of the higher price and often the quantity. I only know of one or two companies (both are straight razor vendors) who sell strop dressing in tiny tubes the size of a little SuperGlue tube. That much lasts me about 10 years. The knife vendors all seem to want you to purchase large bottles of the stuff.
Next would be 'pure' neatsfoot oil. Not the blended stuff! That too comes in larger cans.
Lastly would be ordinary 'ArmorAll.' If you find leather that is really so dry it's ready to crack, leather that's been put away wet 10 years ago in the attic, a spray with ArmorAll, let it sit, spray again, let it sit then wipe off the excess, will usually bring it back into pretty good condition! It's amazing stuff. I've used it for years as the only conditioner for my leather coat and leather jackets, including an old motorcycle jacket that I've kept alive since the '70's. It's still soft as butter despite being a thick 10oz hide that's been soaked again and again by rainstorms, baked in the sun, buffeted by dust and sand, etc.
Treat you leather right, and it will last forever. I have Grandpa's razor strop that he used all his life, my father used all of his, and I turn 67 next month myself. The strop looks good as new.
Stitchawl
Best would be 'Lexol' leather conditioner, but be advised that you would need no more than a quarter of a teaspoon or less for strop. Don't drench the leather with it; put some on a rag and rub it in, let it sit for a while, then rub off the excess. This stuff is good for any leather other than suede or reptile, but does come in a larger can.
2nd best would be good quality 'shoe cream.' (NOT wax shoe 'polish.') You can find little tins or jars of this in almost any shoe store or department store shoe area. Again, use it sparingly. 2-3 pea-sized dots spread out and rubbed into the leather with your fingers. Again, let it sit for a while and wipe off the excess.
3rd best would be a commercially available Strop Dressing sold by knife shops. I rank this below the others simply because of the higher price and often the quantity. I only know of one or two companies (both are straight razor vendors) who sell strop dressing in tiny tubes the size of a little SuperGlue tube. That much lasts me about 10 years. The knife vendors all seem to want you to purchase large bottles of the stuff.
Next would be 'pure' neatsfoot oil. Not the blended stuff! That too comes in larger cans.
Lastly would be ordinary 'ArmorAll.' If you find leather that is really so dry it's ready to crack, leather that's been put away wet 10 years ago in the attic, a spray with ArmorAll, let it sit, spray again, let it sit then wipe off the excess, will usually bring it back into pretty good condition! It's amazing stuff. I've used it for years as the only conditioner for my leather coat and leather jackets, including an old motorcycle jacket that I've kept alive since the '70's. It's still soft as butter despite being a thick 10oz hide that's been soaked again and again by rainstorms, baked in the sun, buffeted by dust and sand, etc.
Treat you leather right, and it will last forever. I have Grandpa's razor strop that he used all his life, my father used all of his, and I turn 67 next month myself. The strop looks good as new.
Stitchawl
- Joined
- May 27, 2007
- Messages
- 4,210
Don't use plywood... it will warp. Use pine at a minimum or pick up a pretty piece of wood at woodcraft.
I make and use strops often.
I'd encourage you to experiment with some stropping compounds. Home Depot or Lowes carry several types of compounds near their grinders. The hardest compound they make will give you more of a sawtooth edge, while the smoothest polishing compound will give you a very fine mirror type edge. Personally, I've narrowed it down to three compounds... the course, medium and fine. I use them depending on the use of the particular knife I'm sharpening.
To apply the compound to the leather you can use it as a crayon and 'color' it on the leather...but I don't.
The best way to apply the compound is to take a small bowl and shave the compound into it. The spine of a mora works well for this. Once you have a fair amount of compound shavings in the bowl, mix it with some oil. Any oil will work. I use vegetable oil. Mix it well with your finger, crushing the chips into a fine paste. Apply the paste to the strop and allow it to dry for 24 hours. The oil will be absorbed by the leather, leaving a very nice and consistent layer of compound on the top of the leather.
It seems to work best with the rough side up, but I've done them both ways and either work fine. The rough side holds a bit more compound and gives it more of a sawtooth edge.
If you decide you like stropping, go to Tandy leather and buy the belt blanks. It's an inexpensive way to go...
Hope this helps...
.
I make and use strops often.
I'd encourage you to experiment with some stropping compounds. Home Depot or Lowes carry several types of compounds near their grinders. The hardest compound they make will give you more of a sawtooth edge, while the smoothest polishing compound will give you a very fine mirror type edge. Personally, I've narrowed it down to three compounds... the course, medium and fine. I use them depending on the use of the particular knife I'm sharpening.
To apply the compound to the leather you can use it as a crayon and 'color' it on the leather...but I don't.
The best way to apply the compound is to take a small bowl and shave the compound into it. The spine of a mora works well for this. Once you have a fair amount of compound shavings in the bowl, mix it with some oil. Any oil will work. I use vegetable oil. Mix it well with your finger, crushing the chips into a fine paste. Apply the paste to the strop and allow it to dry for 24 hours. The oil will be absorbed by the leather, leaving a very nice and consistent layer of compound on the top of the leather.
It seems to work best with the rough side up, but I've done them both ways and either work fine. The rough side holds a bit more compound and gives it more of a sawtooth edge.
If you decide you like stropping, go to Tandy leather and buy the belt blanks. It's an inexpensive way to go...
Hope this helps...
.
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2010
- Messages
- 6,642
Be very careful using "rosin" on your leather. Climbing, gymnastic and lifting "rosin" is mostly magnesium (oxide, silicate etc) and true rosin is made from pine pitch. Using the lifting rosin should desiccate the leather to some extent, using the dancer's rosin will mess up the leather for stropping pretty good. Instead just case it per Stitchawl's instructions:
Got some spray one Lexol which I will spray on a clean clean cotton rag for application. Also picked up some rubber cement. I have some 3" wide mini pine boards (approx 1/4" thick) laying around for backing.
I looked on Tandy's website and they have some Natural Cowhide Leather Strips X-Long (66"). Is that what I am looking for?
I looked on Tandy's website and they have some Natural Cowhide Leather Strips X-Long (66"). Is that what I am looking for?
It's not so much to roll it 'flat' (although that IS important,) as it is to 'compress' the leather. When you compress it by rolling, you effect two important aspects; you make the leather more dense so that it doesn't curl around the edge of the blade, and you cause the natural silicates in the leather to migrate towards the surface so that if you wish to use the strop bare (without compound) you get an ultra-fine finishing strop as the natural silicates are so very small but still abrasive. The longer you roll it, the better the leather will function. In the old days, they would work horsehides for several DAYS not just several minutes to make good strops.
Note: It you have leather that you've rolled and let dry, but feel that it would be better served had you rolled it more, you can always re-wet it and do it again, so long as you haven't put any oil or compound on it yet.
Stitchawl
Well, I rolled it for about 5-6 min but I didn't think about cleaning the PVC pipe before using it to roll the leather. Just dirty off the rack at Lowe's. I don't want to say it but I scratched up the one end leather pretty good. Will that be a problem? This piece is going to be a cut in two for stropping with compound. I am not worried about it to much. This has been a learning experience.
EDIT: I also want to saw how grateful I am to you for your tutorial. It is just the latest helpful thing that the people on this site have pointed me toward. I could not keep sharpening with out all of you guys.
EDIT: I also want to saw how grateful I am to you for your tutorial. It is just the latest helpful thing that the people on this site have pointed me toward. I could not keep sharpening with out all of you guys.
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I bought some leather from Tandy. It's 3'' X 6'. I followed Stitch's instructions. I cut it, soaked it wet, and used a rolling pin to roll the $hit out of it. I rolled it and rolled it, and rolled it some more. I let it dry flat, for a day or two, inside the house. I cut some 1x4's to length, and glued them up. I then crayoned the rough side quite heavily with green. I then used some olive oil, with my bare finger, and rubbed the strop until it had made a paste. I lightly wiped it clean, and let dry. I feel that this is a pretty dang good set up, that would last me a year or two, and serve me well. I don't have a ton of cash in it, but it's as good as I can probably buy. Thanks a lot Stitch for passing some knowledge. Some people really appreciate it.
Won't hurt a thing except your pride.
Keep in mind that the blade only contacts the very 'top' of anything, be that compound or leather. Scratches are 'down.' The fact that there are edges to it is really irrelevant. Unless there are major gashes that catch the blade, I wouldn't worry about it. Some folks like to take a piece of sandpaper to the leather now and then, but I don't find any particular value in that myself. Personal opinion...
Thanks for the kind words.
What's with the 'last a year or two' business? Do you mean the strop will only last a year or two, or that you won't need to reapply compound for a year or two? The strop should last you a lifetime, if cared for. And if you turned your strop into a compound landing strip, that compound should last almost as long! As I said above, the blade only contacts the very top surface... just a few micron down if done correctly. People who are putting on a 1/32" pavement of gunk have simply found another place to store the stuff rather than keeping it on the bar...The compound under that few micron top layer ain't doin' didley! It's not hurting anything, but it's not needed either. If you were using powdered abrasive of the same grit size, imagine sprinkling it on then blowing off the excess. All that's left is a dusting on the top, just as if you were putting on baby powder after a shower... it just makes you look a bit dusty. It doesn't make you look as if you spread on vanilla frosting. Compound on a strop can be the same.
Any time. Knowledge is only worth something when it's passed along and leads people into expanding their horizons.
A mind expanded never contracts to its original limits...
Stitchawl
Stitch, what I meant was; I don't have a ton of cash in this deal. The leather is good, but not fine by any means. For $5, if it lasts me a year, I more than got my dough out of it. That said, I will certainly do my part in taking care of my gear, just like all my other gear. I just won't be heart broken, it it doesn't last more. Make any sense?
Sure does!
But the quality of the leather isn't really all that important in a strop that will be used with compound. As long as the leather was veg-tanned (which is the only leather that can be cased well,) and then properly cased, when used with compound it will perform as well as the most expensive, high quality leather in the land! Casing the leather will firm it up, which is VERY important when trying to strop a beveled edge. If the leather is soft, it will curl around the blade, reducing the effect of the stropping or convexing the edge. The more firm the substrate, the more perfect the bevel. At the same time, a 'slight' degree of give will permit the compound to reach into the steel at a micro level, which is why we don't strop on metal plates covered with compound, but this 'give' shouldn't be something visible to the naked eye. However, a softer substrate is more effective to strop convex edges.
People who spend a lot of money on a strop whose leather has NOT been properly processed spent their money on the fine quality workmanship of the base or handle, and it won't work nearly as well as a strop made from $2 scrap leather from the bin that HAS been properly processed. People can make a MUCH better strop easily at home and for far less money than 90% of the strops sold by knife vendors. It might not be as pretty. It might not come packaged with 3 different bars of compound. It might not come pre-loaded with a thick layer of smooth green mud. But it will work better. And that's the goal of a good strop...
Stitchawl
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- Apr 12, 2009
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Even the $5 leather can & will last a lifetime, as will pretty much any decent veg-tanned leather (some of which can be had for FREE, or barely more). Literally, scraps of leather tossed away from saddle shops or upholsterers or cobblers can be just as good, especially if some effort is taken to prep it, as per Stitch's earlier instructions.
The biggest upside to buying or otherwise obtaining cheap leather is, you can accumulate enough of it for a lifetime of experimentation, with prep methods and compounds of your choice, limited only by your imagination. It's kind of amazing how much can be done with a simple scrap of leather, once a particular 'perfect' combination of prep, compound and steel type is put together. Same can be said for other stropping options, such as paper, cardboard and wood, or any combination of those three.
(Just in the last couple of days, I've experienced some new 'Eureka!' moments with just some paper on a piece of plywood, and some hardware-store compound. It's all about finding the right combination.
).David
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Finely put young man, carry on now. You and David are stellar gents.
It has been almost 24 hours since I went the leather. Give or take 30 minutes. The leather's color is not completely even. There are a couple of darker spots. And if the leather wasn't dry before, I bet it is now! Stiff too. Can I glue it yet or should I give it an other day? It will be tomorrow night before I have a chance to work on it again.
I soaked mine, as in wet through and through. I noticed the same thing as you, so I let mine dry a couple of days. You don't want to be working with leather that hasn't fully cured yet. So calm yourself down, and quit being so impatient. LMAO.
Wot 'e said!
Let the leather dry completely. Be advised that 'dry' has two different meanings when you are talking about leather...
There is the 'dry' as in 'no water.'
There is 'dry' as in 'no natural oils.'
Getting water wet doesn't hurt leather, so long as it dries naturally and completely.
Losing natural oils DOES hurt leather, but it can be completely reconditioned with natural leather conditioners. No harm, no foul.
But gluing water-wet leather to a board CAN hurt it by trapping moisture that can cause mold leading to rot.
Don't do it. Let the leather dry for 2-3 days. Then you can glue it down. My preference for glue is contact cement. When put on correctly, the leather will never lift. When a shoemaker puts a leather sole on a shoe, he attaches it with contact cement because it's such a solid bond for leather.
If you are anxious to start getting your knives in shape, strop on a virgin's thigh. It will take your mind off waiting for the leather... You can take my word on this. On the other hand, these days it may take you 3-4 days just to find a virgin!
Stitchawl
(Sarcasm on) Me get impatient? Never! (Sarcasm off) Well, maybe just a little... I sharpened a knife instead and did a terrible job. Or maybe I should say my technique changed. I kinda had a slight "aha" moment the last time I sharpened, (a week or two ago) I was raising the knife handle too much when I was sharpening the belly. Tried to fix it on the stone I was at with the current knife. No dice because the stone was to fine. Well, live and learn for the next knife.
When I said "dry" in my last post I meant it in the "no natural oils" way. But I am still waiting for it to "dry" as in "no more water". I will set it the leather aside for 2 or 3 days.
When I said "dry" in my last post I meant it in the "no natural oils" way. But I am still waiting for it to "dry" as in "no more water". I will set it the leather aside for 2 or 3 days.