Manual Stropping - Preferred Substrate

[Peter Tremblay]

I got a piece of 1" MDF. Cut off a 2" wide x 14" strip and have been using that with the green stuff. Works fine and is easily replaceable.  

Also use leather belting that was manufactured for the old time mid-century overhead shaft run machinery. Brother got a big roll (new old stock) from an auction that included stuff from a huge patternmakers shop. Some Woodnet members got some from me.

I got some of that belting and I epoxied it to the head of a solid 5 lb stainless steel carvers mallet.  That mallet packs a nice wallop and the leather deadens the blow just enough that it doesn't destroy the wood handles of my chisels.

[Bibliophile 13]

I've always used leather (fuzzy side up) glued to a piece of hardwood. It works fine. I used to use it with the green compound from Lee Valley, but recently I've been using the plain leather. I do still have a strop with the compound, which I use when I feel that the edge could use a more aggressive polish. Either way works.

There's probably a measurable difference between different media, but I maintain that using good stropping technique is much more important than using ideal media.