Leather Strop
I chose this project due to its simplicity and easy difficulty level. A leather strop is used to hone a blade after the use of a sharpening stone. The leather allows curves of a knife to be sharpened easily. You can use some sort of honing compound or I heard you can use whitening toothpaste (which I'll be trying because that's what I have)
Materials
You will need:
A piece of leather preferably a long piece like a belt.
A block of wood I'm using a scrap wooden block I already had
Some sort of adhesive like epoxy but I didn't have any so I used Liquid Nails
A knife to hone
Sanding Paper I only have 220 grit sand paper
A piece of leather preferably a long piece like a belt.
A block of wood I'm using a scrap wooden block I already had
Some sort of adhesive like epoxy but I didn't have any so I used Liquid Nails
A knife to hone
Sanding Paper I only have 220 grit sand paper
Wooden Block Prep
I just sanded the block just so it's soft and smooth. You could probably add a stain or oil to make it look nice. I prefer mine not to be so glamorous since it is my first one.
Glueing Down the Belt
I glued down the leather belt in the middle which was a mistake. If the wooden block is bigger than the leather glue down near the edge. The wood will block the knife from sharpening at the bottom near the handle. Anyways I put some weight on top and waited for half an hour.
Testing the Strop
As my knife I'm using a Morakniv Companion. I applied the whitening toothpaste to the belt and used the same strokes you would use on a sharpening stone.
Conclusion
Your knife should be sharp now. Just wash off the toothpaste with water and you're good to go. This was fun and I'll be making another project soon. I hope my first instructable wasn't so bad.