I had a Revelation

[nelsone]

Now that I've started my hand at carving, I decided it was time to get a strop. Yea, I know, should have done it a loooooong time ago! Well, I went to Woodcraft and, although I did pick up some green compound, the price they were asking for a piece of leather and wood was way more than I was willing to shell out! I ended up stopping by Tandy Leather and hit their scrap bin. $2 later and a piece of scrap maple and here's what I have.

WOW, what a difference a strop makes!

 

[nelsone]

I did a pocket model too! Comes in real handy. Haven't checked, but you may want to see if they have scraps/cutoffs available online. If you want

 

[cskipper]

I'm using a piece of leather I got from Mike. Where's Tandy's?

 

[nelsone]

I'm using a piece of leather I got from Mike. Where's Tandy's?

According to the web site, there's one in Raleigh and the one in Charlotte is on Independence Blvd.

 

[toolferone]

I live very close to the Tandy in Raleigh. If anyone wants me to bring them some leather to Mikes BBQ, let me know and I will pick some up.

 

[jeff...]

And here I was thinking you heard God speaking to you from a burning bush. :-D

 

[Jim M.]

Nice strop Ed, I've been chip carving for about 35 yrs. now and a good strop can be one of your best tools. I tend to use mine not only too keep the knife sharp, it's a great thinking aid, some of my toughest strokes were set-up by 50 or so laps on the strop. Jim