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Perry Hilbert Jr
08-16-2018, 5:53 PM
Wondering, has anyone tried constructing a stropping machine for sharpening carving tools. Would need a very slow speed, maybe a variable speed drill powered thing
Either set up like an old foot peddle grind stone or flat like a record player.

Marvin Hasenak
08-16-2018, 6:18 PM
I used a Harbor Freight router controller on a Harbor Freight 4" angle grinder to control the speed. I believe there is also an adapter bolt to change out the head so you could add a plate with leather on it. But don't remember where I saw it.

John C Cox
08-16-2018, 6:48 PM
Lots of folks strop their carving tools on a buffer...

Perry Hilbert Jr
08-16-2018, 7:20 PM
When I visited Dollywood decades ago, the guy in the woodcarving shop only used the buffer. I'm not sure what wood he was carving, but he let me push the gouge on a piece that needed much removed and it cut like butter. His tools gleamed like mirrors too.

Robbie Buckley
08-18-2018, 12:47 AM
I have a motorised stropping plate - it's a round piece of mdf on an old potters' wheel. Works brilliantly, speed control is via a foot pedal which lifts a drive cone up to push a big pulley.
Used potters' wheel cost me $30. Best investment ever.

John K Jordan
08-18-2018, 9:42 AM
Wondering, has anyone tried constructing a stropping machine for sharpening carving tools. Would need a very slow speed, maybe a variable speed drill powered thing
Either set up like an old foot peddle grind stone or flat like a record player.

I strop on the leather wheels of a Tormek. One is 8"x1" or so and flat. The other is smaller and profiled to let me get into the flutes and grooves. The Tormek turns very slow.

I once visited a carving shop near the Smoky Mountains and the guy showed me what he uses - a "buffing" wheel on a bench grinder. This wheel is different than most, very stiff so the outermost surface isn't as soft and yielding as a typical buffing wheel. The wheel looks like it is made of heavy stiffened canvas. He said he sells a lot of these wheels to woodcarvers for gouges and knives. I was worried that using such a wheel would round over the sharp edge too much but it sure didn't on the one he showed me. I bought one and it works well, but I still reach for the Tormek first since it is handy. I searched once and found a number of suppliers for the same wheel.

JKJ

Casey Gooding
08-18-2018, 12:49 PM
I built one using a motor from an old bread machine. Bought a glass platen for a Worksharp. There are plans for similar devices online. There's a good one on Instructables.