[Frank Seeley]

Howdy,
I wonder if some one could give some pointers on cleaning leather strops.Mine get pretty caked with black stuff
Thanks

Frank

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

just take the back of the knife or anything and scrap it...

[AlArchie]

Ye, that'll work. I used the back of a hacksaw blade once, about 5 years ago, but haven't cleaned the strop since. Add a bit more rouge once in a while and don't look at the black stuff....it doesn't seem to hurt anything anyway!

Al

[cerndog]

If you have a "fine" wire brush they sell packs of three at the auto parts store- one brass bristle, one plastic and one has fine, thin wires really tight together looking like a small steel toothbrush. I brush against the leather grain, leaving it rough looking, then re-apply my rouge. It clogs the brush good, but it eventually comes out. The brushes are handy to have anyway for lots of stuff. I now just leave the black stuff on there. I was wasting too much leather!

mike

[Kenny_S]

Nothing wrong with leaving it alone and just load it up with more compound.
Asked an old barber once when I was younger about is leather strop as it was black and he had never cleaned his in the 40 years of cuting hair.

[Butch_Speer]

I ask John Dunkle about that once. He said if you were using Yellow compound, the stuff he and his father sells, the blacker the strop, the better it works.

[FK]

I find the strop works faster if the leather is cleaned periodically. The "black stuff" is ctually small particles of steel which do not contribute to the sharpening process.

Scrape the layer of gunk away or the wire brush suggestion (which is excellent) and apply a new layer of Yellowstone, check the improvement for yourself.

I have tried all of the commonly discussed strop compounds and really like the Herb Dunkle Yellowstone. He told me it was a mixture made for our hard steel carving knives,,,,when freshly applied it cuts agressivly and then breaks down to finer particles for the mirror finish. When Herb visited the annual show in NE, he would demo the strop all day,,,,,he constantly applied fresh compound to the leather and quickly stropped a razor edge on visitors pocket knives and carving knives.

Regards,
FK

[Kenny_S]

FK, it works both ways, cleaned or not cleaned for a few weeks. Cleaning the strop wears the strop out faster. A knowed Knife make don't like strops as he says you start the rounding over effect of the cutting edge immediately. Says, yes the knife is sharpe but the continuious stropping does round the edge. Show several examples.

So who really knows for real. I say use what suits you. Personally, I clean the strop only once in a while and have not seen a difference in the workings of the compound or strop. Now Ido load the strop up everytime I use the strop.
But am I correct? I don't know, but it works for me.
I guess that is why so many carving vendors are in business, they each say what is best and we buy their products and they make money off of us. That is for real.
However, I will go to Rick of little shavers or Denny neubauer for shapenings once my tools are butchered by me sharpening and stropping them. Both are excellent knife men for sure.

[FK]

Incorrect stropping technique will dub (round over) the cutting edge.

You should use very thin or very hard leather to avoid the rounding effect from the knife edge pressing into the leather and making a radius effect.

At the end of your stroke,,,,stop and raise the knife vertically from the leather,,,,,if you use the barber shop quick reversal method and flip the knive over while in contact with the strop,,,it will most likely dub the edge.

One company that specializes in strops has this to say on the leather and technique.

http://www.handamerican.com/Ihone.html

Regards,
Fred Krow

[Kenny_S]

Yep, I use thin leather with the rough side up and no matter what you do FK, you round over the edge even when you strop correctly. When you strop correctly it takes longer before the edge is rounded. Knife may be sharp and cut ok but anytime and everytime you strop, that starts the rounding effect.
Another thing, Just because it has a mirror finish, doesn't mean it is the sharpest the edge can be. Notice that in the past.

But hey, you have your sharpening techniques and what works for you do it. I am not about to change that. I use different methods I learn and they all work so far.