Strop help?

[Hooked on Carving]

About five years ago, when I first started carving, I purchased a strop from mail order similar to Buy Bütz Strop at Woodcraft.com

the one pictured here. It is suede and has a U and V profile on the edges. I wanted this one to get the inside edges of my tools. Everywhere I read the leather on your strop should be hard rough side up. I also have a Flexcut sharpener, but find the thing too short. Is this strop good for keeping things sharp? Or am I just rounding my edges when I use it? Thanks all for your help!

[RUssL.]

I find the Flexcut strop and it's custom edges most useful for certain tools (mostly smallish palm tools).
You are not necessarily rounding your edges using it. That is more a function of your technique than of the strop itself. Keep you're edge level throughout the stroke and neither lift up nor push the edge down at the end of the stroke and rounding will be minimized.
Having said that, most of the time I do use a much longer strop and have several homemade ones to service the inner edge of curved sweeps and the inside of V tools.
The longer stroke on a longer strop just means fewer strokes needed per use.

[Gulf Coast Handyman]

Just to add to what Russl said, one thing that has helped me strop the inside of my gouges is dowels wrapped in leather. I bought a dowels in different diameters at Home Deopt, and some cheap thin leather at Michaels Craft store, glued the leather to the dowels and added some compound. I probably have 4 - 6 different diameters. As for V- tools I use the Flexcut strop as well as the slick stick - SLICK STICK STROP FROM CLEVE TAYLOR #514401. But my favorite is a home made strop, I used thick leather rough side up, it over hangs the piece of wood by about 1/4". You just run the inside of the V-tool down the edge that over hangs, that way the other wing of the tool does not touch the side of the wood. As Russ said keep the tool flat. Hope this helps some.

Dave

[Hooked on Carving]

Thanks for the help! I like the flexcut one, but my question was, Is the one I have a link to a good strop? The one I have is the same, it's just not a Butz strop. The leather on the flexcut one, I like because it is rougher. This one is made from a softer suede, I think I would do better with a piece of leather glued to wood for knives and outside edges. For inside edges I have a slip stone and dowels with sand paper glued on for the bigger ones.

[Gulf Coast Handyman]

In my opinion hard leather is better then suede. Sand paper and slip stones for stropping, why ?

Dave

[RUssL.]

Yes, the one you have a link to is a good strop.