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The Strop

Autosol Strop

Picking up on a very valid question on the strop, here is a bit more detail on the Autosol product. Firstly, you can omit the Autosol and just use the leather, this would still help remove the burr and give a good edge. It would in many ways replicate the hand stropping that is sometimes done. I did not feel comfortable showing that method to readers for obvious reasons. I have read about using tallow (an animal fat product) with some fine silicone carbide, effectively creating a fine abrasive paste. In essence Autosol is just that but without the using animal fat. If anyone has used the Tormek paste that comes in a yellow tube, Autosol is very much like that. Some woodworkers charge their strops with other compounds, jewelers rouge or chromium oxide that are also worth looking into and may work better for you. Here is a link to the Autosol main site with the product details. Investigating other supply sources might be wise as the price seems quite high on their site. I will also be adding some more detailed information on sharpening in the future, I just wanted to have a nice simple method in place to support this run of articles. If anyone has any questions please do send them in via e-mail or the comments section, the interaction is great and if we can help each other out all the better.

Autosol
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