new hand strop smooth or rough?

[Thomp]

I seen many strops made with pigsin and cow hide belt leather.
i have also seen them with rough or frlted side out as well with finsihed leather, (the side you tool) exposed,,,,

is pigskin better thn cowhide
and is the felted side of the leather better than the slick side of the leather to do the stropping on??

[heineda]

Hello,

I think the best leather choice for a strop is the thinnest. The thinner the leather, the less chance of rolling the edge on your tool. The rough side also gives the stropping compund a better surface to say adherered to.

IMHO,
Dan Heine

[FK]

I agree on the very thin leather, my favorites are from Herb Dunkle made of pigskin and are less than 1/16" thick.

If you cannot find thin leather, another source is Hand American in NJ, they compress the veg tanned leather into a harder strop surface.

Regards,
FK

[Thomp]

Asking becuse i was fiximg to make me some i found a bag of leather scraps at local hobby lobby its oil tanned leather strinds and couple good size chunks od 3/16 to 1/4 I was thinking rough side out would provide better area for rouge to bond, but the thicker leather might work to my disadvantage by putting to much angle on the edege as it compressed..

i remember all the real razor hones were of 1/2 thick leather smooth on both sides..??

[Plain_Ol_Ed]

Conventional wood carver wisdom is thin pigskin rought side out. That being said, I've got a variety of leathers and textures, and they all work, and haven't had any problems with any of them. I've even used cardboard, basswood board, piece of web belt, trousers, inside of a glass and I'm pretty sure other things. They all worked, some better than others. Guess that's my long winded way of saying, go with what you got, it will work. I think sometimes we make things a whole lot more technical/hard than they really need to be.

[Thomp]

I hate stropping, but it comes with the teritory, one of the strops i have, is made of goat leather it was soft and supple, but the top side is starting to peal, i think its one of those enhanced skins they make goucchi bags out of. maybe even a vinal covering, but its so soft its rising ahead of the tool as i strop. i know that cant be a good thing,
ill make a new one out of the heavy leather i have on hand
thanks for all the suggestions and comments

[Ashbys]

Thomp,

I had a piece of cowhide laying around from doing some leather work to a saddle, I just cut a piece off and used it ,
since that time , I have looked at a lot of strops, the best I have ever used was from a barbers supply house, I bit expensive but still the best I have ever seen for bringing up an edge.

If I am away from home and working on a project I just take an old 2 inch wide leather belt and use the inside of it, I don't apply much pressure so rolling an edge is not a concern to me you can split hairs with most of my knives.

Use the rough side , the free fibers allow for the compound to stick to the strop which increases the speed in which the edge will come up, after all your buffing not really cutting .

But I would refer you to the stroping article , those guys know more than me )
Ash

[Plain_Ol_Ed]

I carve on the go a lot, so my favorite strop is a chunk of an old leather belt about a foot long. I just roll it up and secure it with a rubber band. To use it, unroll it, find a flat surface, and strop away.

[Thomp]

I had the project in mind of making some new ones, my good one is all mared from dragging the point of the knife to hard, and its loosining from the glue, as well when i hone my chizzles and gouges i use the same one, and now i got a wood burner and they say i need to start honing it to remove the carbon buildup, till now i just been waiting for it to cool and rubbing it on a scrap piece of stock until it comes clean or scratching it off with a dull pen knife.

thanks again...
thomas

[Kenny_S]

MY 2 Abe Lincolns worth, Just about anything will work, Rough or smooth leather to glass, to plain old wood. Ceramic and even a Woodcarving Illustrated magazine works. Of course I used some Jeweler's rouge with the MAg. I forgot my strops. All of mine are hand made except for one and that is a Flexcut all purpose strop. Old Ed hit it on the head when he said anything will do, some better than others.