Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Strops, Strops, and more Strops!

Have any of you "Whittlers" been whittlin out some where and you know your knife needs some "attention"?  A true whittler will be sittin on a park bench, under a tree, in a waiting room, in the woods - just about anywhere.  Just you and your pocket knife, and a piece of wood.  No strop!  Your strop is at home on your carving bench.  Dang! You know you need it!  You're used to using a very sharp knife.

A TIP!

Treat a strop like a screw driver.  Have several placed around, where you might need one.  I keep one in each vehicle glove box, on my bench, by my easy chair, etc.  I even take several with me some times, to give to others who forget, or don't have one.  They are just so easy to make.  They don't have to be elaborate, to do the job.  And they're certainly not expensive to make.  Here's a series of steps that I follow to make this small useful strop:

Obtain some leather.  I get mine from old leather samples from a furniture store.  The thinner the better.
Get a piece of 1/4" plywood cut to the size you want.  I like about two inches wide by six inches long.  Or use a paint stirring stick.  Don't make it too long.
Cut the leather to fit the wood, glue to the wood and load up with compound.







I make lots, and always try to have one when and where I may need it.   But there are still times-------just like with a screw driver...

No comments: