Leather Honing Strop for Knife Sharpening with Polishing Compound Double Sided (3 Inch by 8 Inch)

I will probably fix it to a block, but this is high grade stuff for a low price. And wow the seller is interactive and knowledgeable. Don’t hesitate. Just buy it. Well worth the price and more and though I haven’t used the compounds yet, I hear good things. This took the sharpness of my Condor Nessmuck(sp?) to new levels. I just used the smooth and suede side dry after stoning it and wow. That edge is sharp and is REALLY holding. Fantastic low cost investment for anyone that wants a sharp blade. Not all sharpeners use strops. Big mistake. This leaves a sharp, but fragile wire edge on your blade. I highly encourage you to give this a shot. Try an old belt first and then upgrade just so you can see what it does. This is way better than my old belt, but I got an idea from the belt. I will update of the compounds are awful, but somehow I don’t see that happening. This is a night and day difference in blade sharpness and quality. Just be sure and strop away from you, backwards(spine facing forward) and at a very narrow angle. Try it dry at first until you get your angle right. Hope this helped.Cheers,AugustI promised to talk about the two compounds it came with. They are decent and do the job, but I will probably go with something else when I run out. With that said, most of my blades are sharp as can be and the stroping compounds allow for a mirror finish on the edge grind.

The instructions that come in the package are inspired. The author is patient, unassuming, and wise. The instructions gently led me down the path towards using the suede side of the strap with the green compound for my kitchen cutlery and carry knives.The results were amazing: my decade-old, 6-inch Wusthof chef's knife went from slicing about 5 inches into paper to slicing through all 12 inches of the paper, as if it were factory sharpened. Not just that -- Instead of veering left or right, it cut perfectly straight down through all 12 inches of paper.I am a beginner, with three years of sharpening on a diamond/stone under my belt. A month ago, I gouged my thumb while using a dull bread knife to dice a tough-skinned french bread loaf for croutons. In response, I bought a couple of new knives and started using angle guides religiously to respect the blade angles when sharpening. The results were good -- all my old knives were sharp. But not factory sharp / shaving sharp like the new knives. With this strop, I'm pretty darned close.I followed the instructions to a tee: if the knife is dull, then sharpen it with a coarse or medium sharpening stone. If the knife is already sharp, then hone it on a fine-grade stone. Then use the strop. Unless it's a barber's razor, use the suede side and the green compound. Keep the angle as low as you can, like 10 degrees or lower. Always strop towards the back of the blade, just like a barber in the movies.Only thing to add to the instructions: keep a small stack of printer paper, cut in half, near your knives. Never sharpen or hone a knife without first making five slices through a piece of paper, about 1/4" apart. This takes about 10 seconds for a pairing knife, maybe 20 seconds for a long chef's knife. Sharpen, five slices. Hone, then five more slices. Strop, then five more slices. If you're doing it right, then the knife will cut deeper and deeper into the paper at each stage.If your angle is wrong during sharpening, you'll make the knife even more dull than it was when you began! It takes time to build up the muscle memory required to keep the correct angle constant through each pull across the sharpening surface. A beginner will never get better without objective evidence of effectiveness.Here are links to my tri-hone sharpening system and the angle guides that I find really helpful:Smith's 50008 8-Inch Diamond Tri-Hone Bench Stonehttps://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001I6JGL4Wedgek Angle Guides (Blue, 1)https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N4QMO7U

The strop is easy to use and seems of good quality (from my limited experience). Seems really short and small but did a good job on my knives.

Great little thing to have. The little pamphlet included has some really great info and tips that it’s just awesome to have. Definitely gunna buy again.

Well you get what you pay for. This leather, short, strop and supplied abrasive will help put that final finish on a blade or tool. However, I would praise it rather loudly if both sides were smoothly finished. The directions are scant but a rough underside is not ideal for honing ultra sharp blades. Worth it...could be a lot better.

If you want a real nice polished edge after honing your chisels or plane irons this leather works well. I put a primary bevel (25 degrees) on my bench chisels/plane irons with a Work Sharp or my slow speed grinder. I then use a Lee Valley honing guide to put on a secondary bevel (30 degrees) using three water stones up to 8000. Finally, I strop the secondary with the green compound on leather. It takes on a mirror finish and I'll touch it up on the strop for fine work. Realize stropping is not the same as sharpening. Stropping polishes while honing puts the edge on a tool.FYI-I glued the strop to two layers of 3/4" MDF and stapled a piece of shelf/drawer liner to the underside to keep it from sliding when used.Update-I ordered a second leather strop for the suede side to be used with Tormek stropping compound. There were knife slash marks on that side so I had to return it. I ordered another one hoping the first was a fluke. I cleaned off the green compound from the original one and now strop the plain leather side (smooth). I did this since I'm going for scary sharp on some carving chisels and a curved spoon knife.Update-the second strop came and the suede side was good. I attached it to MDF and treated it with light weight oil and Tormak PA70 honing compound. It works great in polishing the secondary bevel on chisels. My carving chisels are scary sharp. I only strop my bench chisels if I'm doing fine work -certainly not for chopping out mortises.