Leather Strop Paddle for Knife Sharpening with Polishing Compound 3" by 15" Large Double Sided Stropping Kit -Knife Strop Stropping Block and Stropping Compound for Honing Woodworking

No, this isn't some kind of kinky S&M paddle (Although I suppose there's nothing to stop you using it that way if that's your bag!), it's a very helpful leather strop that finely hones the edge of your kitchen knives after sharpening.As someone who takes pleasure in having a fine cutting edge on my selection of kitchen knives this was an essential purchase. Whetstones and ceramic rods can only do so much when honing a knife, but to really finish the razor's edge finish you need a leather strop like this. I already had a loose leather strop, but having the solid back to this one makes it much easier to keep a constant angle of the blade's edge against the leather.You can use the strop with or without the compound, the important thing is to get your knife at the right angle, moving away from the edge of the blade whenever you slide the knife along the strop, and helping put a top class finish on your knife.It can really be quite a meditative process lining up your knives for a good session with the whetstones and finishing off with a few strokes of the paddle, so take the plunge and add this to your knife care routine, you won't be sorry.

Once you have taken care to ensure your knives are sharp at the outset, most of the time when your kitchen or other knives seem like they need sharpening (e.g., using the whetstone or diamond stone), what they really need is a few passes with a honing rod and leather strop to bring them back to the razor cutting edge you expect. Use both of these tools regularly, and you'll find that your knives under typical use hardly ever need the diamond stones.This strop is generously sized, large enough to handle my cleaver and large kitchen knives, but also manageable for my smaller-bladed pocket knives. I use a set of angle guides to ensure I am sharpening with the correct blade angle geometry. For my Japanese knives I'll do the 14 degree honing guide and finish up with 11 degrees on the strop. For my inexpensive, utilitarian cleaver I'll use the 20 degree honing guide and finish up with 17 degrees on the strop. ~5-10 minutes per blade 1-2 times a month with the honing rod and strop is all that is needed to keep all of my knives paper-cutting sharp.After about a year of use the strop is holding up well. I mostly use the white polishing compound on the suede side, and the green compound on the smooth side. Some of the nap of the suede has come off (as you would expect), and the smooth side has developed a small pit (from a small cut when I started to push the blade in error instead of pulling), but is otherwise still smooth. For the price I thought that I might have to replace every year or so, but after regular use it looks like this will serve me well for many years more. I'm impressed!

I like this strop. The size is good, and the handle is well made. The leather is thick and smooth on one side and suede on the other. I found the suede a little too shaggy, so I sanded it back somewhat. I use the white compound on the suede side and the green compound on the smooth leather side. I learned that applying olive oil to the smooth leather first helps to apply the green compound thinly and evenly, and that has worked well for me. Mostly I just use the smooth side. It does a fine job of taking knives from sharp to scary sharp. It comes in an elegant shiny black box with a gold embossed logo and would make a good gift for the right person.

This is a large strop that works very well. It came with 2 sides, suede and smooth, as well as white and green compound. The instructions sheet was nice and informative. Using a strop is effective and much easier than waiting until your blade is dull and going through the whole sharpening process. This seems like a well made product.

Very easy to work. Very good product.