DIY paddle strop

[Jeltz]

I have been tinkering, again.

I've obtained some leather and it was cupping a bit. I applied neetsfoot oil to the back and its not cupping as much but I came to the conclusion that a paddle strop would be better than a hanging in the circumstances. On the face of the leather I applied dubbin to try and give it a waxy draw but it doesn't seem to have made much difference.

I laid the leather on the board held it and stropped a razor and it worked well, so now its glued and clamped while it dries. The wood has had 1 coat of Danish oil and I shall apply another 2-3 coats to the back,ides and handle. I was given the wood ages ago and I'm not sure what it is, any ideas what it may be? Its too lightweight for oak or walnut but a nice close grain like walnut whatever it is it looks great.

The leather panel measures 2.5" X 24.5" (unmeasured I estimated about 2ft and was pretty accurate) hopefully nothing will go wrong with the glue up and, allowing for the extra coats of oil, I'll be able to use it on Thursday.

 

[Arrowhead]

That looks very useful Nic. (I keep a couple of shorter strops made like that at work for carving tools, treated with jewellers' rouge but they don't see much use these days - far too much screwdriver work recently). I'm reasonably confident that the timber is ash. If that's the case it will probably move quite a bit, not something which would bother me much though.

 

[Jeltz]

I'm reasonably confident that the timber is ash. If that's the case it will probably move quite a bit, not something which would bother me much though.

Well it is the 1st piece of Ash I've worked It should be well seasoned as its been sitting in my wood pile for at least 5 years and I don't know how long the guy that gave it to me had it.

 

[Arrowhead]

There's an old saying that "ash never dies". That one usually gets trotted out when something has warped overnight! Probably something to do with the large open pores making it more than usually hygroscopic, or summat. Very irritating with cabinet doors; hardly a major problem here though.

 

[pugh-the-special-one]

Excellent, should work a treat, where did you pick up the leather from Nic? PS what's the dimensions of the piece of ash? including the thickness.

Jamie

 

[Exile]

That looks fantastic Nic. I think that strop will sever you well over a lot of years to come. I like home made strops and paddles because it makes stropping feel more personal.

I use contact adhesive (tip from a saddler) to stick leather to wood and then I use neat's-foot oil on the surface of the leather to get the draw that I require.

I use a paddle strop not as long as yours though :icon_eek: :blush: when I am honing as it sits on my bench with the stones and I find it very convenient.

 

[Jeltz]

well when I clamped it the leather must have moved by a degree as its a bit squiffy, but still works fine. Not aesthetically perfect and because its so long its more noticeable but as a 1st try I'm still happy. I'll use this for a while to see how it works and may well make another but shorter one, as I still have some leather.

I used PVA wood glue as thats what I had, but I think contact would be better.

 

[Jeltz]

Excellent, should work a treat, where did you pick up the leather from Nic? PS what's the dimensions of the piece of ash? including the thickness.

Jamie

Well I didn't do much measuring when I made it I just marked up the dimensions that suited the leather and a comfortable handle.

Approximately (in old money) it is ½" thick, 32" long of which 5" is handle and 2¾" wide, the leather came from ebay

 

[N_Architect]

Very nice, Nic. Should give you years of nice stropping. Pretty long as well.

 

[Jeltz]

Just a thought, to minimize the chance of the glued leather moving while its being clamped I should have made a clamping jig with 2 boards and some bolts at each corner to hold it all square and maybe some lugs to keep the paddle from moving.

 

[Exile]

Excellent, should work a treat, where did you pick up the leather from Nic? PS what's the dimensions of the piece of ash? including the thickness.

Jamie

Well I didn't do much measuring when I made it I just marked up the dimensions that suited the leather and a comfortable handle.

Approximately (in old money) it is ½" thick, 32" long of which 5" is handle and 2¾" wide, the leather came from ebay

That is where I buy my leather from, I usually buy it in sheets and cut as required. It makes excellent strops.

 

[pugh-the-special-one]

Having been really impressed with Nic's paddle strop I decided to make my own, I have some nice lenghts of Sapele hardwood in my wood stash, one piece I had was 1 1/2 inches thick by 4 inches wide and 30 inches long, so I cut it back to 25 X 3 and ran it through the planer so it's just over 1/2 in or 15mm, marked out the handle cut it out with my coping saw and formed it with some sand paper, I have order a nice piece of 4mm thick English Vegtable pit tanned leather, hopefully I will have the strop finished by the weekend and will post a few shot, until then here's my progress so far.

Jamie.

 

[Jeltz]

Looks good Jamie

 

[Hax]

I think that strop will sever you well over a lot of years to come.

:icon_eek::icon_eek:

Sorry - noticed that typo and couldn't resist

On a more serious note, love the work you guys are doing and am quite envious at not having a workshop to have a go myself (consequence of living in a first floor flat!).

Keep the updates coming as I'm getting some great ideas for the future

 

[Exile]

I think that strop will sever you well over a lot of years to come.

:icon_eek::icon_eek:

Sorry - noticed that typo and couldn't resist

That's what happens when I type with hardly any sleep.
:blush::icon_redface::icon_cheesygrin::icon_cheesygrin:

 

[skinnyjoe313]

that looks great