Angerstone Oversize Double Sided Leather Strop Kit(14.3" x 3" Knife Stropping...

Alright, buckle up, sharpeners, because we're about to dive into the world of blade buffing with the Angerstone Oversize Double Sided Leather Strop Kit. This isn't just any strop; it's the ultimate spa day for your knives and chisels, and it comes with its own ergonomic handle, because who said sharpening couldn't be comfy? First off, let's talk size - this strop is like the big daddy of strops. At 14.3" x 3", it's so large you might think you've accidentally ordered a leather pillow for your blades. But trust me, this oversized strop means business. It's like giving your knives a giant hug, ensuring every inch gets that final polish to a razor-sharp edge. The double-sided feature is where the magic happens. One side is smooth as a baby's bottom, perfect for that final touch-up that makes your blade whisper through whatever it's cutting. Flip it over, and you've got a lightly textured side, like a gentle exfoliant for your metal, refreshing the edge without making it feel like it's been through a sandstorm. Now, the handle. Oh, the handle! It's not just a handle; it's an ergonomic masterpiece. It fits in your hand like it was custom-made by elves in a sharpening workshop. No more hand cramps while you're giving your blades the love they deserve. This handle is so comfortable, you'll find yourself stropping just for the joy of it. And let's not forget the buffing compound. Angerstone includes not one, but two compounds - green and white, each promising to make your blades shine like they've just come out of a beauty pageant. Applying these compounds feels like you're a chef, seasoning your blades to perfection, ensuring they cut with the precision of a Michelin-starred knife. The quality of the leather is another story altogether. It's thick, durable, and feels like it could survive an apocalypse while still keeping your knives sharp. It's like the leather jacket of strops - timeless, tough, and stylish. In conclusion, if your blades have been feeling neglected, the Angerstone Oversize Double Sided Leather Strop Kit is here to save the day. It's not just about sharpening; it's about pampering your tools into peak performance. So, grab this kit, and let's make every slice, cut, and carve an experience that's smooth, sharp, and, dare I say, a little bit luxurious. Your knives will thank you, probably with a nice, clean cut through anything you throw at them.

Great for final edge polish. Easy to apply grit compound.

The first “kit” I received did not include the two polishing compound sticks, so I returned it for a replacement, which did come with all of the pieces. The 14.3” x 3“ strop was nicely finished and assembled. The rough and fine leather pads each appear to be uniformly finished. After honing several wood chisels, I am pleased with the results and the kit seems fine for my needs. While I have experience sharpening with stones and diamond plates, I am new to honing. Unfortunately, I found the enclosed instructions confusing and of little use. Fortunately, there’s lot of videos out there on the subject. Unfortunately but not surprisingly, there’s a lot of debate about every aspect of honing. The wood block base of the strop caught my eye, as it was made of two pieces of quarter sawn pine glued together, a nice and unexpected feature which should provide a more rigid base for the leather pads. The strop set flat on my bench top, with no wobble. Regarding the included instructions: the product is made in China, so the instructions may reflect some interesting translations, as might the brand name. Neither the product listing on Amazon or the instructions indicate the grit level of the included honing compounds, but a related ad indicated that the white compound is a coarse grit and the green compound is a fine grit. I could not find any reference to the manufacturer’s website for more info. Here’s a quick view of my experience. Despite what is shown in the product video with the Amazon ad, every other source I have seen shows that honing on leather is a one way affair. The sharp edge of the tool should always be facing in the opposite direction of the honing stroke. Starting at one end of a leather pad, drag the sharp edge of the tool across the strop lengthwise while applying light pressure, lift the tool at the end of the stroke, set the tool back down on the beginning end of the pad, repeat. Never lead with the sharp edge into the leather as that will either shave the leather, dull the edge, and/or gouge the leather. Do several strokes with the coarse grit on the rough leather pad, then move to the smooth leather pad and the fine grit. As far as the honing angle, the general rule seems to be to stay with the angle established by the previous sharpening steps. It seems that most people hone tools freehand, but I might try using the guide that I use with my diamond sharpening plates for a more consistent angle. I sharpened the chisels down to 2000 grit on diamond plates prior to honing. Initially I was making 30 honing strokes on each of the two grits, on both the back of each tool (wood chisels) and on the angled face, for a total of 120 stokes per tool. Probably more than needed. There are likely too many variables (grit, hardness, pressure, edge width, red state / blue state, etc.) to make hard rules about the number of strokes needed, but the goal seems to be a mirror finish. I reapplied polishing compound after every two or three chisels, not sure if that is correct, but too much would seem to be more effective than too little. If I feel the need, apparently I can upgrade to higher quality polishing compounds for a more uniform and longer lasting grit. While honing the wood chisels in the direction of the handle. I noticed that sometimes the handle would tip down, as the leather pads are thicker than the wood handle. Maybe it was due to my honing technique, but I decided to stop the tipping. I glued a 3/4 inch square of wood, as thick as the leather pad, near the handle hole, on each side of the handle. And finally, be careful - those honed edges are extremely sharp.

First off let me say that if you truly wanna "properly" finish a Knife Edge, that finishing the bevel with a Strop IS THE WAY TO GO. I have gone up to the 6,000-10,000 grit stones if efforts of getting rid of that last bit of burrs, and its a pain. BUT, if you simply grab your Strop and put some compound on it, doesn't take much compound, or sharpening efforts really, but the process of finishing with a Strop, THAT is how you get that FINE FINE MIRROR Polish, and remove the burrs and get that razor sharp finish. So much easier to just use some Compound or Polish on the Strop after the 3,000-5,000 grit stones Beautiful Finish, Every time. I haven't gotten a chance to use it personally just yet as it arrived yesterday (at the time of writing this review) But mine DID come with the green and white compounds. I saw a handful of reviews stating that theirs didn't arrive with the compounds, but mine did. Just in the bottom of the bag with a small plastic case containing them, along with some "instructions". I do wanna write in my review that the White Compound is the more "coarse" grit, and the Green Compound is the Finer grit. I couldn't find that information just flat out. I did see listed that the White Compound is 18 microns, and the Green Compound is 3 microns. Some folks might not know what that means, so I thought I would share. It is a learning process that takes time, so dumbing things down a bit helps folks that are starting out. While I have not used the Strop myself personally just yet, what I can say is that I have no doubt that it will perform wonderfully and without issue, and probably for a long time, if taken care of properly. I honestly think at the time of writing this review, that this Strop and Compound package is probably one of the BEST Strop combo deals and Strops on Amazon. Very very nice quality paddle style Strop and the Leather seems of decent quality. The Leather is firmly and completely glued onto the paddle and it does not appear that the Leather would peel off of the paddle anytime soon and appears that it shouldn't have any issues lasting years with proper use and handling. Personally I think the size of this Strop is just about the perfect size for most pocket knifes, kitchen knifes, and other household items like scissors. There are some pretty HUGE and also pretty small Strops out there, I think this one is in that perfect Goldie Locks size range. Yeah, you could probably make one of these yourself, but for the price, its hard to beat. The Strop's construction is very nice, the Leather is nice and thick and looks like it is of quality and will last a good while. The quality of the compound "might" not turn out to the best the best of the best for compounds, but if you are going as far as adding or doing a Strop and Compound to your sharpening routine, than you already know that its not so much the quality of the compound that makes the sharpening and polishing, its more about your technique, and that it doesn't take anything super special with a Leather Strop and some Compound to achieve positive results, "if you're doing it right". And technique is something that some folks spend years perfecting. I know that I myself am still "mastering" my sharpening skills, and have been working on them for a good 25+ years and I'm still making progress and improving. (4 stars just because I haven't officially used it yet. And, If it falls apart or any significant usage issues arise, this review WILL be updated)

Overall this is one of the best deals I have found on a leather strop. The leather is very high quality, and I have so far ordered 3 of them (for different grit compounds). I have over 2 years of knife-sharpening experience, and personally, I would not use the compounds that come with this strop. They work fine, especially for a beginner, but for someone who wants the highest quality edge, I would look at some diamond emulsions or diamond sprays. I personally really like the Jende Max Poly emulsions, Gunny Juice emulsions, and the DMT Dia Spray. I think the diamond pastes will work fine, but I have never tried any of them. I put the Jende 4 micron Max Poly emulsion on the suede side and Jende 2 Micron Max Poly emulsion on the smooth side. I am able to make knives as sharp as a double edge razor blade (literally, I have a Bess sharpness tester and daily carry a SpyderCo Delica 4 in k390, and it's as sharp as a double edge razor blade). The leather by itself will help anyone get their knife sharper; unless your knife is dull, then it will first need to be sharpened and then stropped. TLDR: Amazing strop, really high quality, especially for the price, and while I personally don't use the compounds that it comes with, I think they will work fine for a beginner.

Very nice quality, great for longer blades.

This particular strop is easy to grab and hold, wide and long enough for longer blades and easy to control. I use it daily. The handle makes it a safe strop to grab and use. Strops without handles can slide around a bit and that makes them dangerous for me - I don’t want to lose control of an extraordinarily sharp blade. I am not much of a compound user on a strop for knives. I think it ruins the strop, is tough to remove compound making multiple grit compounds sort of pointless unless you have a different strop for each grit. Compounds are more for straight razors. I've seen barbers use compound on linen and leather strops and that makes sense to me. But if you have the right stones, technique and experience, strop compounds for knives are a waste of time to me. I use a variety of stones (natural, synthetic and diamond) based on the blade type, steel content, single bevel, double etc. Regardless of the knife steel or style, I will finish with this leather strop. I typically use the coarse side of the strop on knives like a Nakiri veggie that sees a lot of tomatoes. Why? Because a veggie blade like a Nakiri benefits from having a bit of "saw action" on the blade versus a totally mirror finished edge - it works better on tomatoes. The tiny "teeth" left on the blade after using the coarse side of this strip are ideal for veggie blades. The photo shows a Yoshimi Kato Sujihiki (slicer) Black Nickel Damascus blade that has an 11-inch blade and is about 17 inches long overall - it's a long knife. I put it on the strop for perspective. Part of my knife collection is In the drawer in one photo and on the knife block in the other. Hope that helps!

The strop itself seems promising, the leather is nice and hard. Make note that it’s not exactly the same as in the product pictures, it includes a strap for hanging and two places to tie it to. However, the package only included the green compound, with no sign of the other two that were promised. So be prepared to either deal with that or buy compound separately.