# Ultimate leather strop



## spaceconvoy (Sep 26, 2020)

I usually bash the use of strops, but for some reason I got the itch to have one again. The impulse started with a piece of 12 x 3 x 1" marine grade teak I bought as a base for an aoto that I'm pretty sure I'll sell soon. It's so nice - dense, heavy, very straight and flat, and should be dimensionally stable for the rest of my lifetime.

The top is a horse butt strop, flesh side up so I could sand it flat after gluing. I could have pre-sanded it then glued it down to use the harder hair side, but I prefer it this way to achieve ultimate flatness. I'm not a razor guy and to me this feels optimal for knives. It's still really hard with no perceivable give, but you could dig into it with a fingernail. Flattened with 200 grit sandpaper spray-adhesive'd to a board, then finished with 1000 grit - just happened to be what I had on hand. Coated with Bick 4 leather conditioner it feels really slick and nice.

The base is a piece of textured neoprene for traction, same 1/8th thickness as the leather. Doesn't look so pretty after the waffle pattern picked up sanding dust. If I did it again, I'd wait to attach it after flattening the leather. Works well enough to keep the strop from moving, and there's a nice visual symmetry instead of using feet. The feeling of a solid block is really nice too, like a leather stone. I used Master's contact cement because it was recommended for shoe making in a few leather forums, and the bond feels really solid even while trimming and sanding the edges.

Very satisfied with the way it came out, and it feels like the perfect strop to me. Not sure that I'll use it much, but it's something I've been wanting to have around just for kicks.


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## ma_sha1 (Sep 27, 2020)

Wow, look awesome


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## Bear (Sep 27, 2020)

I do like to finish up with a couple of strokes on my strop, I think sanding is a great idea.


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## Wander Vanhoucke (Sep 27, 2020)

do you use compound? I hope there isn't any sanding grit that got stuck...


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## spaceconvoy (Sep 27, 2020)

Bear said:


> I do like to finish up with a couple of strokes on my strop, I think sanding is a great idea.


I didn't realize how necessary it would be when I ordered the horse butt. When I got it I measured the thickness between 3.1-3.6mm, but not very methodically. Measuring now it's down to 2.9mm, with that extra 0.2mm lost to one particularly low spot in the center. A total variation of 0.7mm in thickness on an 1/8" piece of material is huge to me, but I don't have much experience with leather. I was anticipating they'd have prepped it better.



Wander Vanhoucke said:


> do you use compound? I hope there isn't any sanding grit that got stuck...


Good point, I didn't think of that. I just checked on a wide bevel and don't see any errant scratches. Maybe a blessing I didn't have much sandpaper, by the end it was over-worked and exhausted. I'm not planning to use compound, thinking maybe just for confirming burr removal between stones.


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