How to Sharpen a Knife With Leather

Homemade Leather Strop

If they are old enough, many men will remember a barber working a straight razor with a leather strop that was hanging from the counter or the barber's chair. The straight razor was so sharp that the barber could shave your neck or beard effortlessly. This degree of sharpness is obtainable because the leather strop polishes the blade to a high level of smoothness. Microscopic burrs are removed by the stropping action, resulting in an edge that will glide through the cutting material. The strop is intended for maintaining the knife's razor sharp edge--not for making the knife initially sharp.A strop can be purchased from a knife supply store or a suitable substitute can be crafted from some leather from a hobby shop. Either way, you will be surprised by how sharp your knife will become with just a little stropping.

Things You'll Need

• Suitable piece of Leather
• Scrap Wood
• Glue
• Store purchased strop
• Scrap paper

Instructions

1. 

   Using whatever method you choose, sharpen your knife's blade to a sharp edge. The knife must be highly sharpened for the leather strop to be effective.

2. If you are using a hanging type strop, start by holding the free end with one hand and use the other hand to hold the knife. Let the knife blade's edge face towards you with the blade almost parallel to the strop. With the blade edge contacting the leather, draw the knife away from you. Flip the knife over and draw the knife back towards you.

3. It is important to have the knife edge in contact with the strop at a very shallow angle. The back of the blade can just about touch the leather. Do not strop the blade at a high angle of contact. Keep the strop itself taunt and under tension so that it does not sag.

4. The strop will only polish the edge; it will not grind away any metal. Work the knife with the strop for 10 to 15 strokes and then check the edge. As the blade gets polished, you will find that the blade will cut smoothly with no hangups or burrs. Test the edge with a piece of paper held vertically and cut down through the paper. Do this test before and after you use the strop.

5. You can also take a scrap piece of leather and glue it to a piece of wood. Use this to strop your blade as you would with a hanging strop. This method may not be as fast as a full size strop, but it works nonetheless.

Tips & Warnings

• Regular blade maintenance with the strop is the key to keeping a razor's edge on your blade.

• Use caution whenever you are working with knives.