The Best Leather Strops
The strop is the last step before the blade goes to work. After the stone removes metal and sets the edge, the strop realigns the microscopic wire edge that remains and polishes it smooth. A properly stropped blade shaves arm hair and cuts paper without tearing. The process takes thirty seconds and is the difference between a sharp knife and a truly sharp knife.
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How to Choose
A hanging strop is the traditional barber's tool -- leather suspended from a hook, pulled taut with one hand while the blade trails away from the edge on the upstroke. A paddle strop is a piece of leather mounted to a wood base, which is easier for beginners and better for chisels and plane irons. The leather should be thick enough to give slightly under pressure -- 3-4mm is ideal. Load the strop with chromium oxide compound for a polished edge that will hold longer.
Fromm International Hanging Leather Strop
A two-sided hanging strop: smooth leather on one side for finishing, linen canvas on the other for removing the wire edge first. Sixteen inches of working length -- the standard for straight razor stropping. The hanging loop is reinforced. The leather is thick enough to last years of daily use.
The two-sided design means you use the canvas to knock down the wire edge before you ever touch the leather.
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Spyderco Paddle Strop
A hardwood paddle with fine-grain leather bonded to one face and ultra-fine abrasive fabric on the other. The rigid backing makes this the best strop for chisels, plane irons, and kitchen knives -- anything where you need a flat reference surface. The leather face loads with compound; the fabric face works dry.
The rigid paddle is the right tool for anyone who sharpens chisels or plane irons. Hanging strops cant under pressure; paddles do not.
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Formax Chromium Oxide Stropping Compound
Green chromium oxide paste in a 2oz block. This is the standard finishing compound for leather strops -- it removes the last micron of metal and polishes the bevel to a mirror finish. One block will last years. Rub a light coat into the leather face of any strop; it will stay charged for dozens of sharpenings.
An unloaded strop aligns the edge. A strop loaded with chromium oxide polishes it. The compound makes the difference.
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