Make a Honing Strop by James D. Thompson

Making a strop or hone for your knives and carving tools is simple. You can order a piece of leather from the internet, or just find a leather belt and cut a piece off that is about a foot long. Glue the leather to a piece of wood.

Questions ?

If the leather overhangs the wood, you just trim off the excess with a knife.

After the leather is trimmed, I like to make the wood look a little better by rounding the end and drilling a hole in it.

Now it is time to put some compound on the leather. There are many kinds and grits of compound to choose from. I like the green chrome oxide and red jewelers rouge.

I rub the compound into the leather. In this case I have put the soft side of the belt up. I find that it holds compound better than the hard side, but that is a matter of opinion.

If the leather does not take compound readily, I apply a coating of oil to the leather. It will then stay on.

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