Thread: The alchemy of honing, solved with a CBN paper strop progression!

Pellon is a brand name for a paper fabric clothing interfacing, used as a fabric liner. It is inexpensive and readily available at any place that sells fabric for about $5 a yard for a 36 X40 inch piece.

I like it for CBN because it can be wet and will dry in a few minutes with no ill effects and it is smooth and has no grain or grit.

Sailcloth is a synthetic polyester canvas, used for sails, covers and outdoor furniture, it too is inexpensive, about $10 per yard, but fabric stores seem to always be having 50 percent sales, so shop a bit.

I use it in place of linen because of the canvas weave. Canvas has an extra thread and a locking weave so you can cut it and it will not fray. It holds heavy paste well.

Both can be cut like Jer, posted and fused with fusing tape, that can be purchased in rolls of different widths and in sheets inexpensively, that can be cut to any shape. It is ironed on one side, the wax paper backing peeled off and the flap folded over the D ring and iron, the two pieces together.

Fusing tape is super strong, if you try to tear it apart, most fabric will tear, before the bond gives up.

I use a sail cloth strop with 3m Marine metal polish and Chrome Oxide on the other when honing, to polish bevels and remove burrs. It will also refresh an edge.

3m works well, if used too aggressively can chip, depending on the steel, but if use during honing, it does not matter. You can remove all the stria from a bevel, then lay your finish stria on the bevel and a new straight edge for a very smooth, keen edge.

Pellon works well with Ferrous, Cerium, and Chromium Oxides, Diamond, and CBN.

I have been making strops for years and exterminated with many fabrics as a linen replacement and for use with CBN. CBN works best when misted wet, which rules out leather, which is how I came to using Pellon.