which side of leather for stropping?

[sogflash]

I got a piece of leather I'm going to use for a strop without any compound.

There's a smooth side, and a not so smooth side. Does it matter which side I use for stropping on bare leather?

How about if I am to use some compound on it? Should I choose the coarsest side to let the compound blend better into the leather?

 

[tiguy7]

Barber razor strops have the closed side the grain facing out. Smoother is better.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Smoother is sometimes better, but the 'rough' side of a piece of leather can vary widely in character and effectiveness. I'd suggest trying multiple samples of leather on BOTH sides, with different compounds and on a variety of steels & edge finishes. When I strop on leather at all anymore, I tend to favor the inside (rough) face of my leather belt, used with green compound. Works GREAT as a hanging strop on carbon blades like 1095, and on simpler stainless steels like 420HC/440A. The rough side of the leather does a great job in cleaning up the tiny, leftover tatters & burrs left on these blade edges, without too much emphasis on polishing.

More often than not, when I look for a smooth surface to strop on, I'm generally favoring other materials, like paper or very thin cardboard w/compound, over glass. My preferences for stropping polished bevels on more wear-resistant steels are gravitating towards much, much firmer backing; hence using something like very thin cardboard (food packaging, kleenex box, etc.) or a single/double thickness of paper over glass, with compound.


David

 

[sintro]

If you think about it, most of the work is being done by the compound and not strop(unless bare) so it doesn't matter much. I like to put it on the not so smooth side because it hols the compound better.

 

[David Martin]

It does matter espically if your stropping after coarse sharpening. Which needs the rough side with about a 300 grit slurry applied. The fine side works better after finer grit sharpening. DM

 

[sintro]

It does matter espically if your stropping after coarse sharpening. Which needs the rough side with about a 300 grit slurry applied. The fine side works better after finer grit sharpening. DM

What do you mean by coarse sharpening? (grit size)

 

[stitchawl]

It does matter espically if your stropping after coarse sharpening. Which needs the rough side with about a 300 grit slurry applied. The fine side works better after finer grit sharpening. DM

Personally, and this really is a personal opinion, I can't call using 300 grit slurry on anything 'stropping.' I'd call it 'edge-trailing sharpening on something other than a stone.' To me, 'stropping' is the final step or steps taken to perfect an edge. The key word being 'final.' Doing this with anything larger than .5 micron just isn't a final step... unless, of course, one chooses to finish his sharpening at +/- 300 grit.


Stitchawl

 

[tiguy7]

My barber strop has coarse and smooth elements. The coarse element is a linen strop which is joined to a smooth leather strop at the hanging end (a snap swivel). The leather half of the dual strop is oriented smooth side out. In use, you can start on the linen and then flip the rig over and use the leather. I use both sides without compound.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

I use veeery thin, veg tanned leather with the nap side up. Cheap Harbor Freight green compound on a hardwood backing. This combination works very well for getting my knives very sharp. On my 20° (inclusive) knife I can drag a hair across the edge and it'll break the hair. It won't cut a hair by dropping it on the edge at all, but I'm trying. I don't think it's the strop, or leather, but the compound/technique that is holding me back.