Leather for a strop?

[Grayswandir]

Is good old American Buffalo hide (vegetable tanned) good for stropping, or should I just stick to the cow hide?

 

[Blues]

NORTHWEST_KNIFE_GUY

 

[NORTHWEST_KNIFE_GUY]

I like a good firm veg tanned cowhide, that or horsehide works quite well.

 

[Grayswandir]

I did a little research and apparently Buffalo (Bison) hide (theoretically) is literally the very best for stropping. Lots of silicates. The next best (after cow apparently) is equine, or horse hide. Same reasons, it's the natural silicates present in the hide. In that old thread, someone mentioned water buffalo as being excellent as well, much better then that Spanish tanned stuff people talk about all the time. Since I have no real experience, I can't say which is truly the very best in practice. Lots of learning to do.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

If the strop is to be used with compound, there's no need for anything fancy. The advantages of horsehide, buffalo, etc. will just be covered up by the compound and rendered moot. Most anything that will take and hold an even application of compound can be used for a strop - including simple leather, fabric (denim, canvas, linen), cardboard, paper or wood. I actually favor denim or linen over most anything else, if used with compound.

But, if it's to be used bare, then some of those premium leathers might be worthwhile.

 

[RadialBladeworks]

Is good old American Buffalo hide (vegetable tanned) good for stropping, or should I just stick to the cow hide?

My short opinion:
I have used a lot of different leather. I've used a comically varied array of stropping substrates. My standard of performance is that I must be able to easily whittle a hair with my results. Given this restriction, I have found that the type of leather you use does not matter much. However, what varies does vary is the application with which you find the leather (or stropping substrate, to be more general) to perform most optimally.

My expanded reflection:
I have used thin kangaroo leather and veg-tanned smooth, sueded, rough, and glue-impregnated hardened leather. I didn't find variance in performance so much as variance in "specific role application." Sueded leather worked nicely with ultra-fine compounds or bare as a final cleaning step, but I think it is an awful burr removal tool. Hard/stiff/thin leather worked more nicely for super-fine burr removal (8k JIS and up), and I found hard strops like wood, or painter's tape on glass, to perform most well when applied to mid grit burr removal (1k to 8k JIS: I found burrs below this to be stubborn enough to negatively impact my results-per-unit of time, as overly careful burr reduction efforts and excessive stropping strokes were required to achieve my standard of sharpness).

Actually answering your question:
Ultimately, in real-world practice, I think you'll be able to satisfy your need for a stropping tool with virtually any leather you choose, given the caveat that it's decent leather. I'm sure you could find a weird enough leather to produce terrible results, but generally-speaking if you're buying standard 8-9oz stuff, you will very likely be fine.

 

[S-3 ranch]

Hear tell that kangaroo leather and .5 micron is ultimate for hair whittle sharpening/ strop people

 

[Grayswandir]

Thanks for the advice Beans (and Obsessed), that certainly makes things easier for me. Now I don't have to go crazy wondering if I'm buying the right leather or not. I have some knives that will benefit from a leather strop, and others that I have read benefit more from a fine water stone (Japanese steel), rather then leather. The best way to know for sure is to get to it and see what produces the best results.

Since I have your attention I have a question for you: It seems the word choil can mean two different things. Some people say it is the small, half-circle, sharpening notch on knives, other definitions describe the choil as the curve directly below the tang, and directly above the heel of the blade. Which definition is correct?

Thanks,

-grey.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Thanks for the advice Beans (and Obsessed), that certainly makes things easier for me. Now I don't have to go crazy wondering if I'm buying the right leather or not. I have some knives that will benefit from a leather strop, and others that I have read benefit more from a fine water stone (Japanese steel), rather then leather. The best way to know for sure is to get to it and see what produces the best results.

Since I have your attention I have a question for you: It seems the word choil can mean two different things. Some people say it is the small, half-circle, sharpening notch on knives, other definitions describe the choil as the curve directly below the tang, and directly above the heel of the blade. Which definition is correct?

Thanks,

-grey.

I think, in the classical sense, 'choil' usually referred to a fairly large, unsharpened indent at the heel of a blade's cutting edge, as a place to put a finger for a secure grip just aft of the cutting edge. But having said that, and having looked around on the web for others' definitions of a choil, it seems to be accepted in either sense, depending on context. I generally like the definition below, which I found on Lansky's site, which breaks it down depending on the size of the choil:

"...Some blades may have a Choil. A choil is an unsharpened indent on a blade where it meets the handle or at the plunge line. The size of a choil dictates its purpose, if it’s large then it can be used as a forward finger grip. If it’s small then the choil may be there to creat a stopping point when sharpening, to protect the handle."

They mention 'protect the handle', when sharpening to the choil, which seems a valid point. But I think a lot of us here would otherwise view a sharpening 'choil' as a means to completely apex the full length of the cutting edge all the way to the ricasso/plunge, which is often more difficult on knives without the notch/choil. Many here have added their own 'sharpening notches' to blades for just that purpose, to make sharpening near the ricasso/plunge easier.

Here on the forum, in the context usually discussed by sharpening enthusiasts, I think 'sharpening notch' is generally favored and more specific as to purpose, when otherwise we might muddy up the discussion using the term 'choil'.