Power Strop for sharpening..........

[Stu in Tokyo]

A buddy of mine, Tod Evans, shared this idea with me, and this is SO good, I just had to share!! :D

Basically you get a round piece of fairly thick MDF, and attach a piece of leather too it, mount it on something that spins, and then you add oil and polishing rouge to the leather. Yep, that simple, but I like simple......... ;) :D

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/power_strop/power_strop_ready_to_cut_out.jpg
Ready to cut out.

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/power_strop/power_strop_jigsaw.jpg
Cutting a rough circle with my jigsaw (it will be trued up on the lathe)

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/power_strop/power_strop_leather_disc.jpg
I also cut a piece of leather slightly larger than the piece of MDF, you can also see the mandrel I bout to chuck up in a drill or on the drill chuck on the lathe.

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/power_strop/power_strop_ready_to_drill.jpg
I needed to drill a hole 12.7 mm in diameter.

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/power_strop/power_strop_mandrel_in_place.jpg
Drilled the hole and fit the mandrel

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/power_strop/power_strop_tru_up.jpg
With the drill chuck on the headstock of the lathe, I tried to true things up, but, the mandrel was too flexible, and the whole disc wobbled badly.........plan B

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/power_strop/power_strop_faceplate.jpg
I took out the mandrel, and mounted the disc on my 6" faceplate, this worked VERY well.

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/power_strop/power_strop_trued_up.jpg
I was easily able to true up the edge and the face of the disc, but man that MDF is DUSTY to turn, notice the cyclone hose right there.....

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/power_strop/power_strop_ready_to_stick.jpg
I bought some glue that is designed for sticking leather to wood, it is a kind of contact cement.

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/power_strop/power_strop_hammered.jpg
I let the glue sit 10 minutes, like it says on the package, then I stuck it together, and pounded the heck out of it, then for good measure............

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/power_strop/power_strop_lots_of_clamps.jpg
I clamped another piece of plywood on top of it and let it sit for 15 minutes or so.

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/power_strop/power_strop_edge_trued.jpg
Back on the the lathe, I trued up the edge again, cutting off a thin slice of the leather.

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/power_strop/power_strop_edge_trued2.jpg
The minor spots of glue on the face just scraped off with the back of my razor knife.

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/power_strop/power_strop_oiled.jpg
Tod told me to now soak the leather in oil, so I did, he said any old oil would do, so I had some electric chainsaw chain oil sitting around, I figured that it would work well. I really soaked it and let it sit, then soaked it again. Then after 10 minutes or so, I wiped off the excess oil, and back on the lathe it went.

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/power_strop/power_strop_loaded_with_rouge.jpg
Here it is loaded with Rouge, Tod said it would make a paste, and it sure did.

So, how did it work?

Man alive did it work!! I cannot believe how well it works, I have a bunch of chisels, they are ones that I inherited or I won on auction,
that were in fairly rough shape, and needed a lot of work. I just ground them on the grinder, on the coarse wheel, and then went straitght to the Power Strop.

Most were sharp enough to shave the hair on my forearm in less than a minute, WOW!!!!

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/power_strop/power_strop_all_sharp.jpg
Bright, shinny, and SHARP!!

Can't thank Tod enough for suggesting this, boy will this be a time saver!

http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/images/power_strop/power_strop_all_done.jpg
After sharpening 10 chisels, the Power Strop is still in great condition.
You have to be careful how you present the chisel to the power strop, but it did not take me long to figure that one out.

Man does this work!!

Cheers!

[RufflyRustic]

I move this post be included in the Best of the Best.

cheers
Wendy

[scooter]

Good call Stu, oiling the leather is interesting, presumably softens it and helps it take the rouge and as you said, form a paste.

Rouge - what was that specifically, that red crayon that is used with a buffing wheel?


Cheers...............Sean

[Toolin Around]

[quote=Stu in Tokyo;384410]A buddy of mine, Tod Evans, shared this idea with me, and this is SO good, I just had to share!! :D

Basically you get a round piece of fairly thick MDF, and attach a piece of leather too it, mount it on something that spins, and then you add oil and polishing rouge to the leather. Yep, that simple, but I like simple......... ;) :D


Even simpler, leave out the leather. But! still a great post. The oil has me thinking

[Auld Bassoon]

A buddy of mine, Tod Evans, shared this idea with me, and this is SO good, I just had to share!! :D

Cheers!
G'day Stu!

I've been using this sort of this for well over a year and, as you say it works really well.

I really got the idea from Wood Borer who showed me a piece of MDF laden with LV green polishing goop for final burnishing, and from there I thought "what about a spinning disc to do the same thing?". Mine is mounted vertically in the drill press, and a small jig to hold the blade.

I believe that Lignum posted somthing similar a month or so ago.

[Stu in Tokyo]

Good call Stu, oiling the leather is interesting, presumably softens it and helps it take the rouge and as you said, form a paste.

Rouge - what was that specifically, that red crayon that is used with a buffing wheel?


Cheers...............Sean

Yeah, comes in a stick and is used on buffing wheels, or power strops :D

[Stu in Tokyo]

A buddy of mine, Tod Evans, shared this idea with me, and this is SO good, I just had to share!! :D

Basically you get a round piece of fairly thick MDF, and attach a piece of leather too it, mount it on something that spins, and then you add oil and polishing rouge to the leather. Yep, that simple, but I like simple......... ;) :D


Even simpler, leave out the leather. But! still a great post. The oil has me thinking

Well the slick MDF would not hold much rouge, would it?

Cheers!

[Toolin Around]

Well the slick MDF would not hold much rouge, would it?

Cheers!


It builds up to be quite thick if you keep adding buffing compound.

[Toolin Around]

I think the oil is possibly a good idea for a lubricant to keep the buffing compound from sticking to the steel as it heats up.

[Stu in Tokyo]

I think the oil is possibly a good idea for a lubricant to keep the buffing compound from sticking to the steel as it heats up.


Well some heat is generated, but VERY little compared to grinding, but more than say a water stone.

All in all, this is a cheap, quick way of getting a VERY sharp edge on daily use tools. I tell you, I have just about no hair left on my left forearm, as I've been testing each chisel as I sharpen it :D

Just like shaving! ;)

[jmk89]

G'day Stu!

I've been using this sort of this for well over a year and, as you say it works really well.

I really got the idea from Wood Borer who showed me a piece of MDF laden with LV green polishing goop for final burnishing, and from there I thought "what about a spinning disc to do the same thing?". Mine is mounted vertically in the drill press, and a small jig to hold the blade.

I believe that Lignum posted somthing similar a month or so ago.

Steve

Could you post a picture of your setup? I am interested in the jig that you mentioned, as well as the idea of using this in the DP.

I suppose using a stropping belt on a WASP (with the belt backed by a thick steel plate) would have the same effect (and since I have taken to sharpening blades on it already would mean that I wouldn't have to change technique,although the piricdesign website says that you have to use a barrel drum with their leather strop, so if that's the case I am going to fiddling about, so I may as well look at alternatives). The one advantage I can see of the WASP system is that it means that I can using the same normal honing guide to hold the blade at the right angle that I use when sharpening the blade itself.

Cheers

Jeremy

[BobL]

I suppose using a stropping belt on a WASP (with the belt backed by a thick steel plate) would have the same effect (and since I have taken to sharpening blades on it already would mean that I wouldn't have to change technique,although the piricdesign website says that you have to use a barrel drum with their leather strop.

Today I made my own stropping belt for the WASP and I was just about to start making a barrel drum but I thought I would try it out on the standard drum and it stays on just fine fine. That could be because I made it 100mm wide and those provided by Piric are only 50 or 75 mm wide.

I haven really done the oil soak and rouge bit yet but will do so in the next few days.

[Pluggers]

G'day Stu!

I've been using this sort of this for well over a year and, as you say it works really well.

I really got the idea from Wood Borer who showed me a piece of MDF laden with LV green polishing goop for final burnishing, and from there I thought "what about a spinning disc to do the same thing?". Mine is mounted vertically in the drill press, and a small jig to hold the blade.

I believe that Lignum posted somthing similar a month or so ago.

Steve,

At what speed are you running the vertical drill press at to get a nice sharp edge?

Thanks

[jmk89]

Today I made my own stropping belt for the WASP and I was just about to start making a barrel drum but I thought I would try it out on the standard drum and it stays on just fine fine. That could be because I made it 100mm wide and those provided by Piric are only 50 or 75 mm wide.

I haven really done the oil soak and rouge bit yet but will do so in the next few days.

Well done Bob. Could you give some more details? I assume that you sewed the seam by hand (or did you feather the leather so that you could scarf join it with glue).

[Buzzer]

Top stuff!!

Wish I could get broadband for the pictures.

Cheers :D

[BobL]

Well done Bob. Could you give some more details? I assume that you sewed the seam by hand (or did you feather the leather so that you could scarf join it with glue).

The leather is 3mm thick, finger jointed with sloped or feathered finger ends. To hand sew the joint I used a 1mm drill to make the holes and dental floss for thread. The joint is almost all triple sticked with double thickness floss so hopefully it should last for a while.

The stitching does not appear to connect with much of one edge of the joint. This is done deliberately to leave the leading edge of the joint thread free. A cross section of the join, showing the sloped finger ends, and stitch free leading edge is shown in picture 4.

[Hickory]

Great tutoral! Thanks :D Greeny on the way. But did I miss and not read the RPM that you spun the disc for the stroping action?

Might Add, I have made homemade discs for other reasons and used a block of wood with a hole tapped to the spindle thread size to make a permanant "Faceplate" glued to the back. Makes for easy on & off and always ready to reinstall. Might try that with your disc. I know I am making one of your strops as soon as I can muster a large enough piece of leather (I think I remember where I stuck some extra leather, if I didn't give it away...)

Thanks again for the posting and the great idea.

[Stu in Tokyo]

Thanks Hickory!

I know about the tapped piece of wood, but a 1 1/4" 8 tpi thread costs about the same as 4 or even 5 faceplates here in Japan :eek:

I might get one, but I'll wait until I can have my kids bring it back from Canada over Christmas.

Cheers!

[derekcohen]

Hi Guys

Just happened on this thread.

Thanks for initiating it Stu. What speed do you run the face plate/strop?

For reference, most know of the version I made for my belt sander. This uses a piece of chamois leather (available from all car assessory shops) stretched over and glued to a high grit (for smoothness) sanding disk. This ends up being hard and flat (less likely to dub an edge). The velcro backing makes for quick changes.

<center> <div><img src="http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Sharpening/beltsander.jpg" border="0" alt="" /> <br /></center>

The thought occured to me, Bob, that you could do something similar for the WASP. Glue chamois leather to an old sanding belt. What do you think?

Regards from Perth

Derek

[BobL]

Hi Guys

The thought occured to me, Bob, that you could do something similar for the WASP. Glue chamois leather to an old sanding belt. What do you think?

Regards from Perth

Derek

Sounds good. It would need a fairly supple glue. Any suggestions?

[jmk89]

Why not try old fashioned contact adhesive and feather the two ends so that there is a bit of a splice and contact stick those together. Then the only trick is to orient the belt on the WASP so that the blade you are stropping pushes the top layer onto and over the bottom layer not away from it, if you know what i mean.

[derekcohen]

I would try the 3M spray contact glue. This has good flex and high stength.

I think I might try it out myself (I also have a WASP) in spite of having the sanding disk strop and recently adding a hard felt wheel to my grinder. Perhaps I should do a review of strops?!

Regards from Perth

Derek

[scooter]

I would try the 3M spray contact glue. This has good flex and high stength.

I think I might try it out myself (I also have a WASP) in spite of having the sanding disk strop and recently adding a hard felt wheel to my grinder. Perhaps I should do a review of strops?!

Would be interested in your opinions/comparisons of your sanding disc strop vs hard felt wheel Derek.


Cheers..............Sean

[Rickrak77]

How about using a large dowel, maybe 1 1/2 inch or so, and gluing a 1" strip of leather onto it in a spiral, wouldn't have to worry about feathering any edges and you could screw the ends down so it doesn't come off.

This wouldn't need any special faceplates or anything either, just put it between centers.



SOME DAYS YER THE WINDSHIELD, SOME DAYS THE BUG.............

[Wongdai]

Nice necro! :)

[Rickrak77]

Thanks...:2tsup: