Making the Ultimate Leather Strop for Sharpening Wood Working Tools

Рет қаралды 27,977

4 жыл бұрын

What is a leather strop? How do I use one? What leathers can I use to make one? All these questions are answered & more in this video. Martin explains all as he makes a leather strop for his workbench, discusses what are the best materials & leathers to use, talks about stropping compounds & sharpens his chisels & knives to a mirror finish.

Пікірлер: 45

@elderhiker7787 Жыл бұрын

Very instructive. Now I’m ready to make some strops for Christmas presents for my son and son-in-law. I will follow your example. Thanks a million.

@garyhughes1489 Жыл бұрын

Really enjoyed your 'show'. Lookin good all around , well done!

@normanmartin7029 Жыл бұрын

Very well done my friend. Your video was informative and I enjoyed watching everything. I’m usually turned off by speakers with strong accents but I was pleasantly impressed by how you presented the information and by the clarity of the intended message. I learned a great deal and am truly great full.

@BHFWaterloo 3 ай бұрын

Everyone has an accent depending on where your from and who’s listening lol

@george12954 2 жыл бұрын

fabulous video and so well done. Thanks so much.I’ve ordered some 4mm leather similar to yours 100mm x150mm can’t wait to get started.

@bluegrassmando6878 Жыл бұрын

Very well done sir.

@ianadamson1241 4 жыл бұрын

A most excellent instructional video. I look forward to many more. Thank you.

@GreenerGlens 3 жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful Ian!

@tomsharp4840 3 жыл бұрын

Very well done video, quite informative.

@GreenerGlens 3 жыл бұрын

Glad you liked it!

@Pch100 Жыл бұрын

Nice work 👏

@gee3883 Жыл бұрын

Nice one mate, i'll make one of those this week.

@tboneterryd 6 ай бұрын

Great video, thanks

@ureasmith3049 2 жыл бұрын

Great video thanks. I don't need a strop that wide and rugged for my uses but several great tips there. Such as the double sided tape and that finish.

@GreenerGlens 2 жыл бұрын

Admittedly I do have several strops for different uses. This is my workshops strop for big knives, chisels, plane & axe blades etc but I have different ones for my adzes, gouges & a more portable sharpening set up for travelling & camping which I really must make a video on.

@densealloy Жыл бұрын

21:45 I leave the edges unbeveled so I can use those edges to clean up my bevelers. I built a board to specifically sharpen and strop my bevelers and French edgers but I use my strop a couple times an hour so it's always handy. So if a tool has an edge I strop/polish it before I use it or for example on my swivel knife I'm using it every 20-30 mins, so I have a dedicated strop at both my tables. The edges on 10-12 oz vegtan fit in the groove of my 2 and 3 beveler. The geometry on my #1 beveler makes it so this doesn't work as well IMO and since I use #2 and #3 the most it is a neat hack. I think the next strop I make I may skive 2 of the edges and see if that allows this work for my finer edges. It only needs to be skived in about 5mms to allow that edge to fully engage the groove on the beveler. Also if you don't have a board you need to make one. They work amazing and I like them more than the gig and wet/dry paper method since I can do sharpening and honing/polishing on one tool. Weaver sells one and is what I used as "inspiration" when I made mine (out of scrap material so it was "free"). Have a wonderful day! Edit: I forgot to mention. I love the idea of a super wide strop. Mine are about 100mm wide and I feel as though I am juggling my head knife on it. I think it maybe time for yet another build. I think I may make 250mm wide and bolt it (handle wil slide into a bracket under the table) on to the side of my cut table and it will be "hanging" out to allow better acces. Sorry for the War & Peace comment on strops. Lol

@vittoriobeghelli3561 8 ай бұрын

Thank you!!!

@Senorbarnez 2 жыл бұрын

Brilliant. Thank you for sharing this very instructional video. Following your video I've found some 4mm veg tanned leather and will mount it on all four long sides of 75x75x300 leadwood block so I can use different compounds on each side. I'm primarily using for kitchen knives. My thinking is that by using a bigger square shaped block it will help raise the strop off the working area allowing freer movement. One thing I notice is recommended is 'casing' the leather - you can wet it and repeatedly roll it to stiffen and strengthen it - apparently this makes it perform better as a strop and reduces rounding/convexing the edge.

@GreenerGlens 2 жыл бұрын

4mm veg tan should be perfect & should be hard enough to prevent significant rounding of your tool's edges if it is tanned well. Casing is more to soften the leather before carving or tooling. I think what you are referring to is a kind of work hardening & I think it's probably overkill. The fastest way to harden leather is to heat it but it is difficult to get right without ruining the leather. A process sometimes used is cuir bouilli which is a method of boiling leather to make it hard typically for armour. When I make leather bottles I heat them in the oven & saturate them in beeswax & they feel like hard plastic after that. I would say the best thing to prevent rolling the edge is to get your stropping technique spot on & if you want an ultra rigid strop just use a piece of very flat mdf with stropping compound on it - much easier that hardening the leather.

@MrBillUp Жыл бұрын

@@GreenerGlens You just fried his brain with knowledge lol 😁👍

@GreenerGlens Жыл бұрын

@@MrBillUp 🤣 glad to be of service 👍

@johnjude2685 Жыл бұрын

Really nice . Would you know what angle your leather knife should be? I have a ulu blade that was made from a 50 plus ➕️ years experience BladeSmith -BlackSmith Smith that I'll be using for my leather knife of great.Damascus steel . I'm making notes for my copy of this build. Every viewer should learn and enjoy and of course give you a Thumbs up 👍 Great video and audio Great Linseed oiled axe handles are sometimes over 100 years old so yeah good finish and protection and oils the wood.

@ScottMcCormick12358 2 ай бұрын

I believe green polishing sticks use chromium oxide as the abrasive.

@ktownc936 Жыл бұрын

Love this guy gets down to the info with the bullshit.

@JoseRamirez-mp7vu 3 жыл бұрын

Very well done ! I would actually purchase one from you if you ever decided to make them to sell.

@GreenerGlens 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you Jose - I could be convinced to make some to sell. 😁

@GodyArtDesign 6 ай бұрын

What grit u used on the leader? And is your diamond stone from China or US?

@mab49696 6 ай бұрын

How long did it take you to clean up the edge on the chisel badly damaged on the 300 grit diamond stone? I am finding it taking a long time on a 120 and a 180 grit diamond stone, like 10-15 minutes?

@mab49696 6 ай бұрын

Which side goes up on the leather to the board? Are they different on each side or the same?

@judgetoogood1033 10 ай бұрын

What brand of double sided you use. What are the maximum width. Thank you…..

@Ash-nd7pl 5 ай бұрын

Can you use Leather Chamios for a strop?

@jeffburkholder2148 11 ай бұрын

What make/brand is that face shield/respirator? Surprised me when you turned it on.

@GreenerGlens 11 ай бұрын

Apf 10 evolution powered respirator. I got it from axminster

@rusty728 Жыл бұрын

What respirator is that you’re using ?

@GreenerGlens Жыл бұрын

Axminster ptf 10 evolution powered respirator.

@nightwalker2830 2 ай бұрын

I made a strop but the wood i did a burnt finish

@MrBillUp Жыл бұрын

4mm thick Veg Tan Leather is wildly expensive. The cheapest I could find on ebay was £40 for a 1ft x 2ft off cut. For a strop, outside my budget. Shame. Lovely strop you made though buddy.

@lesterarnold2644 Жыл бұрын

Very good movie I hit the wrong button

@robthompson8285 5 ай бұрын

Whenever I hear a Scotsman talk, I'm reminded of what the great William Wallace once said..."Ride 'round. Doo it, and let the Anglish see ya doo it."

@djevilm 8 ай бұрын

Can you make me one?

@robohippy Жыл бұрын

The tooling/saddle making leather is nice, but too thick. What this does is that it compresses as you strop. I have one friend who swears by kangaroo leather because it does not compress. Yes, you are supposed to use only minimal pressure, but not every one does that. I haven't tried goat leather which is very tough. Not sure about compression. Some of the automotive upholstery leathers have 'fillers' in them so they have a memory. Haven't tried any of them yet. In general, thinner is better, and on a smooth surface. MDF is too coarse. Some of the baltic birch plywood is pretty good, but leather is still better. Stropping does leave a nice polished surface, but the primary thing is to remove the burr. No matter how fine your stone is, for me, up to 15000 grit, you still need to strop.

@GreenerGlens Жыл бұрын

I agree mate but properly veg tanned cow hide is pretty hard especially if you can afford the real nice traditional oak tanned stuff (a bit expensive for a strop) & as you say when you combine it with the right technique you should have no trouble. I've tried kangaroo leather & it seemed ok, had a bit more of a pronounced grain than the cow hide which I liked less but it was stiff but more because it was thin. If you have access to harder more exotic leathers experiment away but my strops give me razor edges every time & with minimal explaining so can relative beginners.