Double Sided Bench Strop - 3 x 8 Inches- Natural Russet Leather (25-4081)

         Double Sided 8 x 3 Inches Bench Strop  Natural Russet                   

• Made From a Solid Beech Wood Platen
• Specially Treated High Quality Leather
• Measures 203mm X 74mm X 18mm 
• High Quality Nubuck Leather
• Beautifully Hand Crafted in the UK
• Ideal For Carpenters, Woodsmen,Leatherman,Bushcrafters
• Suitable for all Blades, Shark Edges
• For Honing & Stroping  
• PLEASE NOTE Knife / Axe etc not included!

The Double Sided 8 by 3 Inch Strop is exclusively made by Shark Designs and is made to the highest standards from a solid Beech wood platen that has both sides covered in high quality, specially treated, Vegetable Tanned leather.We don't just use any old bit of leather either, we only use the best leather. Each of our strops are made by hand and the attention to detail plus the finishing is just as important as the leather its self. Please note that due to the tones of nubuck the strops may slightly vary in colour shade to those seen in the photos. This is a "made to order" item only due to the short supply of the wood we use in this product. 

The overall size allows offers a more stable platform to and stropping area with which to strop such items as Plane Blades, Chisels and other Woodworking equipment. The Double Sided 8 by 3 Inch Strop can be mounted a vice or other stabilising platform for absolute stability whilst stropping.

One side of the strop can be treated with a high quality Honing Paste, enabling you to polish off those micro-burrs at a much faster rate and allowing you achieve that little extra polished razor edge, whilst the other side is left untreated and used as a standard strop. When charged with a quality Honing Compound, such as Tormec Honing Paste, the strop will become a Honing Strop that has the potential to keep all of your cutting tools in tip top razor sharp condition for extended periods of time before the need to re-sharpen them on a Sharpening Stone. 

Each side of the Double Sided 8 by 3 Inch Strop has a massive 8 Inch (203mm) long by 3 Inch (74mm) wide working surface, with specially treated leather facings that will enable you to maintain your razor sharp knife-edge with absolute ease. 

The Shark Double Sided 8 by 3 Inch Strop is a durable and dependable workshop strop and with proper care, it will last you years and years. 

Tools that have been sharpened using a Japanese Water Stone should be stropped to give a razor-sharp cutting edge. This will also ensure that your cutting tools stay razor-sharp for a lot longer.   

The Basic Principle Of Stropping

The basic principle behind “Stropping” a cutting edge, like a knife, is to remove the micro-burr that, unavoidably, remains after the re-sharpening process has been completed on a waterstone.  This micro-burr will make your knife edge appear sharper than it actually is, because it is like a very thin piece of wire, just a few molecules thick, but it is very weak and easily detached from the cutting edge, leaving behind a somewhat duller edge than would be desired.  The “Stropping” process, when, for example, a knife, has been properly sharpened, actually, transforms the newly sharpened, apparently sharp, cutting edge into a durable, razor sharp, cutting edge.  The “Stropping” process also polishing the cutting edge after the micro-burr has been removed, this also removes the microscopic furrows that are left behind by the grit particle of the waterstone.  In a nutshell, the “Stropping” process leaves the cutting edge sharper and stronger, which will make it last a whole lot longer than without stropping.

With the addition of a high quality honing paste, the “Stropping” process is dramatically accelerated, since a honing paste is very slightly abrasive.  The application of honing paste (to one surface of your strop only, the other surface remaining untreated) helps to significantly extend the life of your knife’s cutting edge before it will require to be re-sharpened on a waterstone  again.

How To Use Honing Paste

Smear a little honing paste into the surface of your leather strop, in an even thin coat, less is required than you might imagine.  By trailing the cutting edge of your knife, chisel or Plane Iron etc., back and forth, along the strop, using minimal pressure, you will achieve a polished razor edge in a fraction of the time it would have taken without honing paste.  Each application of honing paste should last for several sharpening sessions and you will see that it is working because the paste will start to darken as the metal from your knife is polished away.  Once you have carefully wiped away any excess honing paste from your knife, chisel etc., so as not to contaminate the uncharged side of your strop, you can use the uncharged side of the strop to give the cutting edge a final little polish.

Please Note: We at Shark Designs advise that you ignore the instructions printed on the Honing Paste tube, which recommends that you apply light machine oil to the leather, before you apply the honing paste.  Whilst this does allow deeper penetration of the honing paste it will dramatically darken the leather and will make the strop slightly sticky, which will attract unwanted contaminants to the surface of the strop, thereby shortening the life of your strop.  The oil may also penetrate to the other side of the strop especially on the Field Razor Strop (Basic & Deluxe) models.  We do recommend that you apply the Honing Paste as described above. No other items are included in this sale, 1 x Double Sided Bench strop only. As this is one of our most popular items we sometimes have to make a new batch so there may occasionally be a delay in shipping your item.