Leather Strop

[Smoothjazz077]

On the strop I currently use, I apply Veritas green compound to the rough side of the leather, however I was speaking with a friend of mine, who says he always uses the smooth side of the leather.  He applies green compound to the smooth side with a little baby oil, and says it works fantastic.  I would have to assume that this is one of those "what works best for you" scenarios, but I was curious on what other members recommend, and do you glue your strop to a piece of hardwood?

Scott

[Timberwolf]

On the strop I currently use, I apply Veritas green compound to the rough side of the leather, however I was speaking with a friend of mine, who says he always uses the smooth side of the leather.  He applies green compound to the smooth side with a little baby oil, and says it works fantastic.  I would have to assume that this is one of those "what works best for you" scenarios, but I was curious on what other members recommend, and do you glue your strop to a piece of hardwood?

Scott

.................

The strop will work either way, but IMO, the rough side holds more compound than the smooth side, so I think it works a little faster to remove the wire burr..
When I make a hand strop, I use hardwood and I glue leather to each side..one side smooth side out and the other rough side out. Start on the rough side then flip to the smooth side.....baby oil on both...you have the best of both worlds...

[Rob Young]

My go-to bench strop right now is a double layer of MDF (1-1/2" total) with Autosol.  However I have a few others to choose from.  One has butt-leather, smooth side out, glued to a double layer of MDF.  I had one fuzzy side out with green compound but eventually replaced it with smooth side out.  I think the smooth side out works better.  Just opinion & theory, I have no empirical evidence.  Theory is that the harder surface of the smooth side (or just MDF) can't form a rolling ridge and possibly dub the edge.  Probably much ado about nothing.

Then in a box I keep more scraps of butt-leather, unmounted.  Those can be squeezed, rolled, folded, etc. to make the shapes for moulding plane irons, etc.  And they can also be used as clamping pads if still clean.

I do have a "power strop", the leather wheel side of a wet grinder.  Slow turning but works very well.  That has the fuzzy side out and I have a chunk of the green stuff nearby that gets rubbed on.  Great for when I decide to do some maintenance on several blades.  But the bench strop is the usual one since it is right at hand.

I've found that for O1 and vintage steels, you don't really need the compound.  Straight to the leather or MDF is fine.  Still works with A2, D2 etc but adding the compound does speed things up a bit.  Maybe the difference between 40 licks and 20.  I've also tried brown paper grocery sacks as well as other papers as the strop material.  Works pretty wells too, again, better on "old" steels.  One that is especially good is "cheap" copy paper with a bit of 0.5um diamond paste.  Not durable but worked great.

[Scoony]

I use the smooth side and with the green compond. I will wipe it down from time to time with mineral spirts and a rag to clean up the surface.

[Dan_]

I use the rough side of the leather with Tormek honing compound. It blow everything else out of the water.

[Admiral]

  I've also tried brown paper grocery sacks as well as other papers as the strop material.  Works pretty wells too, again, better on "old" steels.  One that is especially good is "cheap" copy paper with a bit of 0.5um diamond paste.  Not durable but worked great.

I'm a big believer in the grocery bag as a strop; its my last stop in my sharpening regimen.  Arm hair popping results.  Does work best on high carbon steel, vintage and O1, which I prefer.  I use my jointer outfeed table, sort of like shaving the paper....

[Bibliophile 13]

Are you not getting good results with your current setup? There are lots of "right" ways to do this, and only a few "wrong" ways. If your edges are satisfactorily sharp, why change what's working? If they're not satisfactory, I'd focus on technique before changing sharpening media.

FWIW, I've been using your method for years--Veritas compound on the rough side. My edges are sharp. They cut wood cleanly and efficiently. That's all I need.

[blackhat]

The strop I use the most is a piece of spruce 1x4 about 3" long with a hole drilled for a 3/4 dowel.  A piece of saddle skirting leather, smooth side up, glued to the board and green compound.  Stuck in a convenient dog hole and right to hand for a couple swipes as I'm working.