Do You Strop Chisels/Plane Irons?

[Tony Wilkins]

I’ve been tempted to try a strop but every time I see someone doing it they seem to be putting a lot of effort into it — ie really pushing down into the leather.

[Warren West]

I’ve been tempted to try a strop but every time I see someone doing it they seem to be putting a lot of effort into it — ie really pushing down into the leather.

Well, so try it but don't push down so hard. See what works.

Arm hair and paper is one thing, but my suggestion to everyone is see how it cuts wood and go by that over any other test.

[James Pallas]

I usually strop carving tools as opposed to going to the stones. If I'm sharpening bench chisels I sometimes go straight from my smooth flat river Rock to the work. I think it works like this. You need to do what is needed for the edge you want. If you don't know what you are doing to or for the edge you need to find out. When you use a strop with compound on it the purpose is to remove steel. When you use a clean strop you are refining the edge without removal of a lot of steel. Depending on how dull I feel a carving tool edge is I will go to the rough side of leather with some green or gold stuff on it wipe the blade and go for light strokes on clean leather. I sometimes just go to the clean leather just to refine a good edge a bit. I have a friend, good carver, who swears by brown paper. I've tried it and it does work. Others use their palm or their pants. It all works. The point I'm making is you have to know, there is no way you can tell someone to take fifty strokes on a stone and then rub thirty tomes with 20lbs of pressure on a strop. You have to learn to read the edge to get what you want.
Jim

[steven c newman]

Ok, was doing a few mortises in White Oak today....lost a tiny sliver off the edge of the new Narex mortise chisel..no biggie..
sharp station.jpg
600 grit Medium India stone, then the leather strop...back to work.....About after each mortise, a quick three strokes on the pants leg...ready to chop.
That little curl laying there? Had one tenon that was too thick, with most of the excess on one side...
end grain curl.jpg
Chin-powered Aldi's to trim the excess off..one stroke. YMMV...

[Frederick Skelly]

I usually hone to 6000 and then strop on leather with green compound. I usually pull shavings that are .002 - .003 thick.

[steven c newman]

Would take me all day to get a job done..with shavings that thin.....

jointing thin stuff.jpg
This took almost too long to do, as it was...

[Frederick Skelly]

Would take me all day to get a job done..with shavings that thin.....

jointing thin stuff.jpg
This took almost too long to do, as it was...

Yes it sure would! To clarify, I was using my favorite smoother, the MF #9.

[Steven Mikes]

I use waterstones (4K + 8K if there are no dings/chips) and always a leather strop with green compound after. It's just a thin piece of leather glued to MDF.

[brian zawatsky]

I guess I’m the odd guy out on this one. I finish with a 12k Shapton & that gets the edge where it needs to be. I used to use a strop when I was still sharpening with sandpaper and float glass, but once I switched to ceramic stones I didnt see a need for the strop anymore.

[Brandon Speaks]

I strop about 5x as often as I sharpen, and always strop after sharpening. Even if the strop is put away in a drawer, getting it out putting in the end vice, and stropping takes all of a minute and makes a world of difference.

[Jay Larson]

Just started strpping my chisels and plane irons. Tried both 20-30 swipes per Paul Sellers, and just a couple. While I do notice a difference when I strop versus when I skip it, I have not noticed much difference between a couple of swipes and 20-30.

One question I would like to add. How often do you recharge the strop? Every Time? When you see it turn black? When you haven't done it in a while?

[Brian Holcombe]

I don’t strop, I have nothing against the practice but find it unnecessary.

[Steven Harrison]

I'm about to phase stropping out. I feel like I get better results when I skip the strop, and I can see other's points when they say that stropping rounds the edge off.

[Zach Dillinger]

I strop chisels and gouges frequently, often as a way to lightly refresh a faltering edge without having to stop work completely and actually sharpen it. If you can catch the edge before it starts to chip / break it can be a real time saver. On plane irons I don't do this, as if I'm taking the time to take the plane apart, I'm going to make sure the iron is as good as I can get it before it goes back into the plane, i.e. no time saving half measures. The last step in that process is a couple of swipes on the strop.

[Alexander Zagubny]

Starting woodworker here, so not a lot of experience.
I do strop chisels after sharpening and during the work. Plane blades I probably strop less than I should (due time required for disassemble). Result of stropping I can easily feel on a newspaper test (single sheet, trying to shave thick strip from the edge). Result is notable in cutting wood as well.