Petroleum Jelly on a Strop

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Mister Coffee

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In one of his videos, Big Brown Bear said that the way to apply compound to a leather strop was to first prep the strop with an application of petroleum jelly.

1) Has anyone tried this?

2) I'm using Bark River green compound. Rumor says that B.R.'s green is maybe not your regular green compound.

Thanks.
 
I have not, perhaps others have. No reason why it wouldn't work, as petroleum jelly is just few fractions lighter than paraffin, which some also use. I would guess that if you already treated the leather with neetsfoot oil, or were planning on using a different oil, then petroleum jelly might not be compatible with everything, so I'd just pick one and stick to it. More for the sake of the leather than anything else.
That said, I'm not sure I've ever really done much to "prep" leather for compound apart from what the leather itself needed, and I've only oiled leather that was intended to be used clean.

As for the bark river green, There is a lot of myth and rumor about various grades of chromium oxide, and very few manufacturers would go out of their way to tell you their product wasn't special. Not saying anyone is being less than honest, but it falls into that grey area of not correcting other people's assumptions. I don't think it has anything special in it that would have any effect on how you intend to use it.
 
Could you give us the URL link to that BBB video please?
It should depend upon what type of strop compound you are working with.
I doubt the Bark River compound is anything special, many wood working stores sell the green wax sticks. It has been a popular compound with wood workers for many years.
The CrO wax sticks can be hard to apply due to the design intended for application to a powered buffing wheel.
Many use a hair dryer to warm up the wax stick making it softer and easier to rub onto the leather.
Some will shave small strips with an old knife or use an old coarse file to create small particles,,, then rub it into the leather.

Regards,
FK
 
gadgetgeek said:
I have not, perhaps others have. No reason why it wouldn't work, as petroleum jelly is just few fractions lighter than paraffin, which some also use. I would guess that if you already treated the leather with neetsfoot oil, or were planning on using a different oil, then petroleum jelly might not be compatible with everything, so I'd just pick one and stick to it. More for the sake of the leather than anything else.
That said, I'm not sure I've ever really done much to "prep" leather for compound apart from what the leather itself needed, and I've only oiled leather that was intended to be used clean.

As for the bark river green, There is a lot of myth and rumor about various grades of chromium oxide, and very few manufacturers would go out of their way to tell you their product wasn't special. Not saying anyone is being less than honest, but it falls into that grey area of not correcting other people's assumptions. I don't think it has anything special in it that would have any effect on how you intend to use it.
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I haven't prepped strops heretofore. Occasionally, I use olive oil on a strop that is already loaded with compound. I do not know if it would make applying compound to a new strop any easier if I oiled the strop with olive oil first. Do you?
 
FK said:
Could you give us the URL link to that BBB video please?
It should depend upon what type of strop compound you are working with.
I doubt the Bark River compound is anything special, many wood working stores sell the green wax sticks. It has been a popular compound with wood workers for many years.
The CrO wax sticks can be hard to apply due to the design intended for application to a powered buffing wheel.
Many use a hair dryer to warm up the wax stick making it softer and easier to rub onto the leather.
Some will shave small strips with an old knife or use an old coarse file to create small particles,,, then rub it into the leather.

Regards,
FK
Click to expand...

I'll look for the video. In the meantime, this guy mentions it.
 
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Personally, I wouldn't use a vegetable oil, just due to them going rancid over time. But that is neither here nor there.
As for any sort of oil (neetsfoot, mineral, or PJ) they will make the leather hold the compound a bit better. Its common when using powdered compounds to mix them with something to apply them, mostly to avoid dust. The main thing is getting a good bond. So as mentioned, starting with warm leather and then making sure that whatever carrier the compound is in is well bonded to the leather is what you want. Its probably some form of wax, though I've seen some polishing rouges that seem to be more of a chalk. Either way, the goal is to keep it bound to the leather, and very dry leather isn't as good at that. ( I re-read my other post, I was mistaken, I have oiled some leather compounded strops, but it had nothing to do with the compound as such, it was just to keep the leather from drying out, or absorbing moisture and molding. The compound I was using had a wax base and bonded well to the leather.)
What you also don't want is over-oiled leather, as it will get soft, stretchy and probably start to curl (if its a hanging strop) Over time, leather does dry, so applying a bit of oil is also worth doing. Your local conditions, and what you have available is going to play a part in what you choose. I know I keep saying oil, but anything that is going to keep the leather soft, and adhere the compound is really what you are looking for. In my case, living in a rather warm, high humidity environment, I've used different stuff that I did when I was living in a dry cold place. So long as you are not smearing random stuff on several hundred dollars worth of latigo, go nuts, and if several hundo is well within your "lets see what happens" budget, well, then let us know how it goes. Not being sarcastic, it would be somewhat interesting to see. There is a lot of "the only way" info out there, and I bet there are far more "right ways" to do things, and some not quite wrong, just "not ideal" ways.
I've had somewhat better luck using things like neetsfoot and beeswax on leather goods in general, though some of that may well be just due to bias. I know that many guys who straight shave prep their strops with high purity mineral oil. I very much suspect its less a matter of what, than how much. Again, not saying you shouldn't use PJ, it might be really good for your conditions, just that its not special in some way.
 
i doht use waxy compound (not even diamond paste) on leather any longer. maybe SiC paste yes.

on leather: i'd try spray\emulsions, preferably based not on oils, e.g. NORTHWEST_KNIFE_GUY NORTHWEST_KNIFE_GUY 's product

waxy compounds: i love them on wood. cheap paint stirring staffs are a good place to start. they're flat and smooth and adsorb (not absorb) the compound well.

meanwhile my stropping activities have declined a lot ever since i improved my
 
Recently I had a problem with a wax based diamond compound (in a tube).
It clumped up and did not spread evenly when applied to a new leather strop which had a magnetic backing on a steel sub base. Norton Honing Oil on a cotton cloth really worked to smooth out and spread evenly the wax based compound.

Years ago, I did use green CrO in powder form for my kitchen knives,,, the light mineral oil spread lightly on a new strop really helped with spreading an even coating of compound.

Light mineral oil and a coarse weave cloth also helps clean the surface of a well used leather strop, it also preps the surface for new compound application.

Regards,
FK
 
I appreciate all the input, gents.

Right now, I'm looking at a DLT strop with Bark River green compound on the smooth side. The surface has become hard and uneven. I've tried to restore it by 1) rubbing olive oil on it with a paper towel, 2) sanding it with 220 and 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper. Not much is happening. I may have a go at it with 3) a hair dryer later today.

Aggravating situation, but I guess I can always switch to a new strop and start from scratch. That's why I asked about the petroleum jelly (to use on the new strop).
 
I’ve been using his spray with great results and while his strops are not cheap by any means he builds them with top notch material. I have bought enough bargain crap to fill a trash barrel. As a matter of fact they HAVE filled my trash,lol doing it right the first time is money saved.
 
After heating with a hair dryer and rubbing with a dry paper towel.



Then, after scrubbing with 220 grit wet/dry sandpaper.



From here, I guess I could go up the grits on the sandpaper to about 2,000, like the guy on the video. What do you think?
 
Right now it’s got to be fairly “fuzzy” so if you coated it, it would be hell to clean next time and it would also be a coarse finish. I would take it to at least 1000 grit and see how smooth it is and decide
 
sickpuppy1 sickpuppy1 Thanks, Puppy. I was trying to figure out what the goal here was. Do I want a smooth surface? Is it possible for it to be too smooth? I don't know what I'm doing, so feel free to chime in.
 
Well, I guess it could be. Only if the pores are so tight it can’t absorb the media you’re trying to apply.
Your looking for a smooth surface so your knife isn’t sliding on a bumpy or jagged surface
 
Mister Coffee said:
sickpuppy1 sickpuppy1 Thanks, Puppy. I was trying to figure out what the goal here was. Do I want a smooth surface? Is it possible for it to be too smooth? I don't know what I'm doing, so feel free to chime in.
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Don't overthink the sanding of the leather too much. If the compound applied is one of the wax-based sticks, the 'fuzzy' nap of the freshly sanded leather will lay down very soon and the leather will smooth out on the surface, due in large part to the wax binder for the compound.

I'd also AVOID sanding with SiC sandpaper (wet/dry). That grit is friable, meaning it breaks down with use. That'll make it more prone to getting embedded in the leather, and not being detected there, which leaves you a contaminated surface for your new compound application. A relatively coarse-grit garnet or aluminum oxide sandpaper is better for this, because if any grit comes off the paper, it's easily seen or felt with your fingertips and is also large enough that it won't get stubbornly embedded in the leather. It's not nearly as friable either, so it just doesn't break down like the SiC grit will. Something in 100-150 grit works very well for this. It leaves the leather velvety-smooth to the touch, which takes & holds the wax stick compounds very well. It won't be bumpy or rough unless the leather itself is just extremely poor-quality stuff.

Excessive sanding of the leather will just waste too much of it, and too quickly. It really isn't necessary. Just a minute or two of light-touch sanding at a coarse grit as mentioned above will get it done. Use a block to wrap the paper around. It's very easy and doesn't need anything more complicated than that.
 
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Obsessed with Edges said:
Don't overthink the sanding of the leather too much. If the compound applied is one of the wax-based sticks, the 'fuzzy' nap of the freshly sanded leather will lay down very soon and the leather will smooth out on the surface, due in large part to the wax binder for the compound.
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Sounds like you are saying that I don't want a smooth surface, but a fuzzy surface. This is what I was wondering about.

Obsessed with Edges said:
I'd also AVOID sanding with SiC sandpaper (wet/dry).
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Oops, too late. :)

Obsessed with Edges said:
Excessive sanding of the leather will just waste too much of it, and too quickly. It really isn't necessary. Just a minute or two of light-touch sanding at a coarse grit as mentioned above will get it done. Use a block to wrap the paper around. It's very easy and doesn't need anything more complicated than that.
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Agreed. But what I started with was a smooth strop that had a ton of Bark River green compound on it, and the strop surface had become hard and damn ugly. When I put a knife to it, I didn't feel like I was stropping anything. I couldn't hear anything. I couldn't feel anything. If that makes sense.
 
Mister Coffee said:
Sounds like you are saying that I don't want a smooth surface, but a fuzzy surface. This is what I was wondering about.



Oops, too late. :)



Agreed. But what I started with was a smooth strop that had a ton of Bark River green compound on it, and the strop surface had become hard and damn ugly. When I put a knife to it, I didn't feel like I was stropping anything. I couldn't hear anything. I couldn't feel anything. If that makes sense.
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Either smooth or fuzzy from sanding, it won't matter much in the results. The fuzzy nap after sanding does help a lot with the application of the compound, which can improve results with a denser and more uniform application of the compound. But after that, with use, the surface will become smooth & kind of shiny again, looking as if it was never sanded at all.

Whatever sanding is necessary to get it clean, that's fine. Don't otherwise worry too much about making it smoother or changing the surface texture, with further sanding. As mentioned above, it won't make a lot of difference in the end results.
 
Obsessed with Edges Obsessed with Edges Thanks, David. I appreciate you taking the time and explaining things in simple terms. :)

Th strop in question is a DLT two-sided item. The smooth side that we are talking about worked well in the beginning, but then the Bark River green compound just got hard and shiny and sort of sat there. It was no longer a pleasure to use. The rough, suede side of the strop is working very well with Bark River black compound although I have no idea how I will "clean" it if the need arises.
 
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