I never really did much stropping, but I now understand it's importance. I do some leather working, so I have scrap veg tan leather belts. Is this a good alternative to a conventional strop? Also, what kind of techniques are people using?
There is a very good sticky at the top of the page re stropping that has good info.
All comes down to how conformable the strop is, amount of surface area of the cutting bevel, and the size of the abrasive. There are a lot of variables compared to grinding with a stone.
On a V bevel it is very important to use light pressure and do as much set up work as possible on the stones first. Even then you would do well to use a slightly lower (more acute) angle when stropping than you used on the stones. With a Scandi or full convex edge the blade presents a lot more surface area and it is much easier to hold that angle without rounding.
Study the leather just in front of the apex as it moves along - you do not want to see much of a change in its reflectance compared to the rest of the strop surface or it means you have a noticeable amount of rounding at the cutting edge. When you go back to the stones you will be able to tell how much you are rounding the cutting edge by how long it takes to grind a fresh bevel.
The harder the strop, the more likely it is to keep a flat bevel surface, and it will also be somewhat less effective at removing burrs. It will also have an effect on the how much the abrasive bites on the steel and how much of the particle is sticking up above the strop surface. The key is to manage the amount of pressure and be realistic about how much work you can do on the strop compared to going back to your stones.
A real easy way to get your feet wet is to wrap a sheet of paper around your stone and apply compound to that - change it out when it loads up. This will save you any variations in the leather strop as it loads up and needs cleaning, sanding, etc and pressure variations from one density/thickness of leather to another - maybe shorten the learning curve somewhat.
I also highly recommend backhoning on polishing grade waterstones at some point - a very challenging skill to learn, but will do wonders for your stropping mechanics.
The link in my signature might be helpful as well. Disclaimer - the link is to a "strop substitute" that I make, but the accompanying videos are directly applicable to stropping/backhoning technique as long as you take into account how much less forgiving leather is of pressure and feedback.
and oil, you can actually claim the resulting thin mud on a sheet of paper and strop with that. For a long time I used to keep a small piece of hacksaw blade in my combination stone box, and use that to whip up some "stropping compound" if I needed to touch up a blade but didn't need to take it to a stone enough to create usable mud. Folks might be surprised at the edge one can whip up using this method. Have to be careful not to have any loose grit under the paper, not have too much oil (want the abrasive to stay put, not slide around too much on the paper) and to not use a stone that's too coarse - a regular combi stone works fine.