Razor strop
Strops are strips of leather, different long and wide, with which a blade to improve the sharpness after the use of grinding stones is treated.
The blade is flat ( razor ) or at a slight angle ( other blades) with little pressure pulled stroking the leather. The movement is always towards the back of the blade. This approach involves a possibly existing ridge is raised and polished coating on the belt with a polishing agent of the cutting area.
Types of strops
The " hanging strop " is a leather strip which is fastened by means of suitable fittings at one end to a fixed point, held taut with the other end with your hand. This model was and is often used for the treatment of razors for shaving. The original form may have been the trouser belt which was fastened with a buckle somewhere and held at the end with your hand.
Often, the back of this belt is complemented by a strip of linen with an abrasive that allows a previous sharpening.
So-called " strop " are wooden blocks, which are covered with leather and can have a handle. The pages can (different polish, without polish ) with a prepared differently leather be provided. There are also paddle strop, in which the leather is attached hollow on the block (also with a clamping screw).
Shock belts are easy to carry (travel) and do not require a suspension, such as the hanging strop.
The term " strop " is misleading: The blade is run like on a hanging strop, neither the blade nor the thrust belt. The name probably stems from the fact that this type of belt for a certain type of knives ( " Straight knife " ) was used.
Criticism
Many users (even razors ) complain about the change in the geometry of the cutting blade when using a hanging belt or a shock belt with hollow tensioned leather " rounded " The cutting edge and is " crowned ". Especially with a microtome blades for knives or for the microscopic thin section, this is intolerable. Here, the fixed glued to a leather pad is preferable.
Work with the strop is called " chamois " or " leathery". It requires skill and guidance to neither damage nor belt blade.