leather strops with Bark River stropping compound

[Ralph Sams]

Hi everyone, looking for some expert input here. I have some Bark River Stropping compound bars (green and black) left over from my pre-wicked edge days. I have tried to apply the compound to brand new leather strops and they won’t seem to hold any compound (at all). My father in law recommended I add some soap to them to get it to stick. I was also thinking about using some leather conditioner on the strops, then trying again.

Any recommendations? I don’t mind buying some paste from WE but I’d prefer not to waste the compound I already have.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!

BTW I’m a pathologist so Im planning to use my microscope to evaluate the effectiveness and I will post some pictures!

[Daniel maloon]

Some people lightly rough up the leather with sandpaper, some heat the leather up some heat the compound up. BR compounds are supposed to be some of the best out there. Ive done it. The good thing about WE paste and diamond sprays is the you dont have to worry about the compound mess and alot of folks like the added stickyness of the paste. Some photos would be cool if you get a chance to post some.

[William Nevins Jr]

If im haveing a problem getting the stroping compound to stick to the leather i will use a heat gun to warm up the leather and the compound sticks great…just dont go overboard with the heat

[wickededge]

You can get the bars ready by pouring a little honing oil onto a plate and letting the bar’s end rest in the oil for a while. It will absorb the oil and soften and then you can apply it like lipstick. It should stick just fine then.

-Clay

[Ralph Sams]

fantastic, thanks for the edge y’all! I’m about to sit down and go through a half dozen knives. I will give details later on how it worked!

[Mr.Wizard]

You can get the bars ready by pouring a little honing oil onto a plate …

What kind of oil is that exactly?

[Gregg776]

Neatsfoot oil works really well on leather strops and wax based compounds. You can either soften the bar by placing one end in some oil in a shallow dish or saucer; or you can put the neatsfoot oil directly on the leather and spread the compound like a big crayon. Neatsfoot oilcan also be used to remove most of the old compound on the strop with a little help from the edge of a credit card for a scraper.

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