Thread: Chrome-tanned or Veg-tanned leather?

For now, I'm going to hope the problem of the burr isn't too significant and I'm going to see how bad the blades are without the polymer.
Is there any way I can reach both sides of the blade or does that seem impossible?

I'm still confused on which leather to use.

I just did a Google search on multiblade razor sharpening and was surprised by the number of gadgets and utube videos purporting improving the edge on multiblades. The gadgets were priced $5 and up and the videos showed stroping on various surfaces, mostly denim. Both the gadgets and stroping were used to clean the blades back to original condition and extend the life of the blade. As for leather, maybe a strip of suede glued to one side and veg tanned leather to the other.

Originally Posted by KnivesFanatic

I'm still confused on which leather to use.

Simply put

Vegi-Tanned

Very simply put, get/make a strop that will work best for Knives, Tools or Straight Razors, since the chances of it actually working on (Key Word Here) Disposables is sketchy at best, you want to be able to use the strop for something else so it won't be a waste of time and $$$...

ie: I have a Vegi-Tanned strop coated with CrOx that is specifically made for tuning up my Leather Corner Bevelers...

Originally Posted by gugi

Because that sits on top of the steel - you can not reach the steel without getting that off first. Think of it as something like teflon and you'll probably realize that removing that is not necessarily the same as removing metal. So, the abrasives that we use to hone our straight razors, which work really well on the high carbon steel of those, may not do the same on your cartridge blades until you remove the polymer on top of the steel.


That is a result from honing on one side only. That's why we flip the razor when we hone/strop it.
I don't have recommendation because we do not have this problem and do everything possible to avoid it (edge leading honing, light touch, stop before the burr is developed). Occasionally we have people with little experience show up here and tell us how wrong we are for doing it this way and that the alternative is far better. The last time somebody with very high profile did that it started a mini inter-forum war, which ended with all of his new followers concentrated on another forum silently switching back to the traditional way of honing.

Many of the people who hone knives intentionally develop burr repeatedly and then break it off. It is the lazy/ignorant way of honing - you don't have to know when you've reached the sharpness you'll get at that level and switch to a finer hone at that point. You just keep honing past it until a significant burr is formed, then you break it off and switch hones. You regress the edge by this breaking and then you have to do more work on the finer hone, but it works pretty well for knives where you very rarely get to the level of sharpness of a straight razor.

Anyways, may be somebody smarter/more experienced than me can suggest something, but I am 99.9999% certain there is nobody who produces shave-worthy edges by honing and stropping only one side of the edge.

You don't have to listen to me either, just try it and see what happens - may be it'll all work out and you'll be happy with your honed cartridges.

Are you referring to the gentleman from Carter Cutlery? I waded through many pages of the drama to learn what Gssixgun's response was to the challenge. What's really funny is twenty pages deep it ended then someone in 2013 kick started it right back up LOL.

Originally Posted by Kyguns

I just did a Google search on multiblade razor sharpening and was surprised by the number of gadgets and utube videos purporting improving the edge on multiblades. The gadgets were priced $5 and up and the videos showed stroping on various surfaces, mostly denim. Both the gadgets and stroping were used to clean the blades back to original condition and extend the life of the blade. As for leather, maybe a strip of suede glued to one side and veg tanned leather to the other.

Why suede?

And does it matter which veg-tanned leather or are they all pretty similar?

Do I want to avoid one that has oils in it like Black Latigo ?

I would say your best bet is head to a Tandy Leather and buy a veg tanned belt blank or search through the scraps. The people there are both helpful and knowledgeable in my experience. Strop leather is very personal IME. I love Bridle, but am not a huge fan of the Latigo. Someone can tell you what's the best leather, but they can't tell you what's the best leather for YOU. That's just my opinion though and there are far more qualified people here.

Originally Posted by Kyguns

I just did a Google search on multiblade razor sharpening and was surprised by the number of gadgets and utube videos purporting improving the edge on multiblades. The gadgets were priced $5 and up and the videos showed stroping on various surfaces, mostly denim. Both the gadgets and stroping were used to clean the blades back to original condition and extend the life of the blade. As for leather, maybe a strip of suede glued to one side and veg tanned leather to the other.

@Knives Fanatic. Why don't you buy one of those $5 gadgets . Surely one can't home make something cheaper than that ?

Full disclosure ........ I've never shaved with a cartridge razor in my long life. I was always too cheap to buy the damn things and stuck with the twin blade disposables. That said, my father taught me to hone pocket knives on arkansas stones.

When the knife would shave the hair on his calf he would strop it on leather ......... what kind of leather ? His shoe. Right on the side of his shoe. So since you probably have packages of these things, take a belt out of the closet, the side of a pair of work boots, dress shoes ........ strop the thing and don't worry about buying anything until you know whether you're barking up the wrong tree or not.

IOW ............ as we used to say in the ironworker's union ......... stop asking questions ! DO SOMETHING EVEN IF IT'S WRONG !!