Fast and Easy Knife Stropping Guide

Learning how to strop and hone your knives and carving tools is one of the fundamentals for any wood carver. This is the best way to make your knives, gouges, and chisels super sharp and makes it easier to slice through the wood.

This video will show you what to look for, how to set up a strop, how to use the strop, and how to take care of your leather strop.

00:00 Introduction
00:20 What Do You Need
01:26 Adding Compound
02:32 Frequency of Use
03:13 Stropping Angle
03:58 Pressure Applied
04:24 Preventing Damage to Your Strop
04:56 Strop Maintenance

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Recommended tools and supplies

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New to whittling? Check out these videos for beginners!

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If you found the channel helpful and want to give me a gift as a thank you, you can send me some Pokemon cards! I've been collecting them since they started coming out and always enjoy getting new cards! You can use my Amazon Wish List to send me a booster pack or two :)

[nikolaip]

Thank you!!! that little strop all tucked in was so cute :)

[TerryHesticles]

I got inspired to try carving because of the amount of ginger and carrots I peel at work. Found your channel real fast. Can't wait to carve me a Kirby!

[RDAIbright]

I subscribed after the laugh when you tucked in the strop. 😂 That was fantastic. Helpful, informative and fun. Thank you

[keebelf]

I signed up for This Month's Craft and last month was a wood carving of a bird. I had a really hard time with it and have rage quit several times. A co-worker suggested I look online for videos since the one for TMC, to me, was lacking the "in between" portion of instruction. I am finding myself cannon-balling into these videos and, when you said "start making your own designs" my first thought was a miniature for my DnD games. :D. I taught myself how to knit about 12 years ago and my 3rd ever project was a lace-work shawl so I have no "intermediary" filter when it comes to things like this. Thank you for such well developed videos! I am visually impaired to the point of legal blindness and I have been able to understand and follow along with the few videos I have watched so far. Very well done!!

[viniciustadeu]

Because of your videos I started carving, it's so relaxing.

[joannaevans]

Great guide, very clear and easy to follow, thank you so much.

[Georgia]

I saw you in a Reddit comment and bought my first carving gear. Funny finding your tutorial while searching around

[arthurpenndragon]

so it turns out I've been using the compound wrong lmao, I thought it sufficed to just rub it on and get stropping. was worried I'd run out of the brick in like 2 weeks haha. thanks dude

[nicolaslaloy]

Again thank you ! I think that explains why I have so much trouble wood carving

[rebeccasimms]

Thank you so much ! I just carved my first spoon today and had a hard time with sharpening, this helped tons

[Beavers]

I learned a few new things watching this video. Of course, strop bed do not count. 😅😅

[mattiacarugo]

the laugh at 5:08 blasting in my headphones brught chills up my spine, I turned around to see if an evil killer clown was behind me ready to stab me in the neck.

[franb]

Tucking it in the wood bed sent me 😂😂😂

[reidhomer]

Thanks for all the videos. Really helpful and well made!

[HikariTheGardevoir]

Thank you for this. I just got my BeaverCraft set and they seem to have forgotten to explain _anywhere_ how to use their own leather strop.

I'm having the same problems as someone else, with the compound coming off relatively easily. I tried applying it on the rough side but I feel like even there it doesn't get as even as it should. And after honing and stropping each side 20-30 times, I still can't cut through paper effortlessly (which is what you should be able to do according to them, before you start on your project).

Do you think I should maybe get a different, waxier compound? Or is the cutting-through-paper rule a bit exaggerated?

[jamianrhynehart-geuh]

I watched another video that said to apply the compound to the swede side, sharpen your blade then the smooth side is to polish it with no compound

[shaym]

Thanks for the great videos. I just started after watching your videos and picked up the beavercraft beginner set of three knives. Carved two blocks and didn't realize I needed to strop so they got dull. I used your videos on how to sharpen them with a whetstone and the strop. The knives can cut thru paper easily with no paper burrs but still struggling to carve wood to the point it feels more dangerous having to force cuts (using basswood). Any ideas?

[Makdaddy-qy]

Wow I noticed one of your knives was a cool Damascus blade

[mattiacarugo]

the day after I apply compund on my strop it just start flakeing away; is there a quick effective way to remove it all without applying heat?

[gmbly]

how can i use cardboard/denim in place of leather? do i just do the same you showed just not on leather? i want to get started soon but the soonest i can get a decent strop is a week from now!