Sharp Pebble Leather Strop for Knife Sharpening

This Strop is high quality and well built. The compound is a great addition as well. This strop does in fact finish your blade to a mirror finish, which just screams sharp. The customer service as well is unparalleled. They reached out several times to make sure I was satisfied along with a link which included instructions on how to use and take care of the strop "which I highly recommend you read". With that I have a cautionary tale. I'm a Chef in a major city and I've spent a lot of money on my knives and tools and I needed a high-quality strop to take care of my knives and tools. So, when I found this strop for such a great price, I was extremely excited to get it. "maybe a little too excited" the second it arrived I went to work on putting mineral oil on it and rubbing on the compound. I grabbed my first knife and without using a proper "J" strop on my 8" chef knife (at NO fault to the quality of the product) the tip of my knife caught an edge and cut right into the leather (which they do warn you about in the linked instructions). I then rubbed in some more compound which covered up the cut pretty well; However, my advice is to be patient, take your time, read the link they send you and possibly watch a couple YouTube videos on how to strop your specific tool or knife. Once you think you can be comfortable with how to use the strop, then all you need to remember is take your time and be patient. Again, it’s a solid well-built product that I even use to hone my knives between uses, and it does in fact put a mirror finish on the edge of my knives. In conclusion: I'm going to be purchasing another one. Not just because It’s an excellent product and I highly endorse it. but also, because I'm OCD and want one without a cut on it. "even though the cut is barely noticeable"; Furthermore, I'm going to keep the primary strop I purchased at the restaurant for myself and my fellow Chef's to hone and polish their tools. The new one I purchase I'll keep at home for my own private use. I hope this is helpful and useful information to any future and potential buyer. I also want to thank Sharp Pebble for the amazing product and support. Note: I'll be adding pictures and a possible video review in the near future.

Once you get a knife sharp with whetstones, this easy-to-use leather strop literally gives it a razor edge. Not only that, but if you give your knife a couple quick swipes after using it, you'll retain a razor edge for a long, long time without having to use your stones again. In fact, I now only use my stones once per year, and that's great because stones eat away at your knife's material...and a stop takes away no material. Now this strop DOES have an optional polishing compound, and that DOES eat away at your knife's metal. BUT...if you just use it once, you'll never have to use the polishing agent again...just drizzle a little water onto the strop, give a couple swipes with your knife, and you're good-to-go once again. I use stones and then this strop on paring knives up to my big butcher knives. PS Want a bonus? If you switch to safety razors, you can resharpen used blades in seconds. I use a Henson razor and have had quick, perfect shaves for years w/o ever a single nick or bit of razor burn, and at 10-cents per blade...yeah, do the math. :D And now for giggles, I used this strop on a razor blade and have sharpened my current one repeatedly for a couple months.

The leather could be softer and of higher quality. Like the strop size and shape 8" by 3", if came with a wood cover would be better. Rubber base to keep strop from sliding when in use is nice feature. Haven't used the strop yet, so can't speak to it effectiveness or usefullness. Mark Schreibman

I was getting nowhere trying to sharpen our "nice" kitchen knives with my old oily Arkansas stone. Based on positive reviews, I decided to purchase the Sharp Pebble 400/1000 stone, the 3000/8000 stone and the Gladius Leather Strop. It was a great decision. To put Sharp Pebble to the test, I chose to sharpen a collection of various DULL Cutco knives and Spanish Henckel knives. I followed the soaking and prepping instructions for the stones and strop and then set out to sharpen the 10 DULL kitchen knives. It is important to read and follow the prep directions! I started out at the 400 and worked my way all the way to the 8000 then finished all of them off with the prepared strop. I am very proud of the results. These run of the mill “nice” knives are now VERY sharp. The Sharp Pebble product tutorial materials are super easy to read and follow. You need only apply some patience and practice. The Sharp Pebble products work very well and accommodate my skill set. I have full confidence in the Sharp Pebble products. When I am equally confident in my skills I will start sharpening our premium German Wusthof and German Henckel knives. The products arrived on time and very well packaged-no product damage or defects whatsoever. The Sharp Pebble products are great. I recommend purchasing the Sharp Pebble products.

I mostly use this on chisels but it can be used on any non-serrated knife as well. The green abrasive is great for sharpening with this leather strop for the final touches. It stays where you put it and doesn’t wander even with a lot of pressure which you really don’t need to use. It’s soft but not soft enough that it rounds corners. I redid a whole chisel blade with it and some diamond stones and it worked great to finish them up. I mostly use it for light sharpening as I don’t let most of my chisels get in too bad of shape.

I'd never before seen a commercial strop from finished leather, so I thought I'd try it. At first it was impossible to load with the enclosed compound. Others mentioned some kind of instructions but I found none in my package and none online. I tried mineral oil to open up the leather and that helped a little, but I had two problems: the dye was coming off of the leather and I still couldn't load the strop evenly with compound (including some I already had). I was getting streaks of compound on the surface rather than an even coat. Some mentioned softening the compound by heating, but you shouldn't have to do that. Finally, I decided to refinish the strop myself. It took an unreal amount of time on my belt sander - even after a solid minute on a 120 grit belt, I was finding significant high and low spots. The attached picture shows the strop after about 90 seconds of sanding. There is still a MAJOR divot in the leather as shown by where the compound wouldn't load. Another 30 seconds or so and I FINALLY had a flat strop with a surface that loaded up perfectly. This is WAY more work than I should have had to do for the money. However, I do give it three stars because the base is solid, and the leather is attached firmly as shown by how it withstood my belt sanding. So now, with the terrible finish removed and the bumps and valleys flattened, I have a great strop.

As a newbie to knife sharpening, I was uncertain that investing in a strop would make any difference in my novice abilities. It is safe to say that I am glad I purchased the Sharp Pebble Leather Strop! First (and most obviously), the mirror finish that the strop gives to my knives is immaculate - the true satisfaction of sharpening a knife on a whetstone is only achieved after getting that mirror finish, which only a strop can deliver. Second, the build quality of this strop for the price is incredible. As a novice to the knife sharpening world, I was hesitant to add this into my sharpening kit, but I'm glad I did. The build quality and sturdiness surprise me for the price. Finally, given that the strop is made of leather, you have to have some technique when using it. Don't be worried, the technique is very easy to learn (they include instructions), and the technique you form when using this leather strop will help you sharpen your knives on the whetstone. Overall, a great buy and a must-have for any knife sharpening kit.

This is a good product. And it’s very well packaged and presented. It’s clearly produced by people who care about what they are doing, take pride in it and that want to give their customers a product that is well worth the money. I buy stuff from Amazon all the time. It’s almost always a box in a box with something stamped in ink on the side with no instructions, no “thanks” no acknowledgement of the customer whatsoever This is made by opposite people and it’s plain to see it It’s packaged with a good supply of the product that is applied to the leather. It has soft rubber on one side so it sticks well to a counter which is far safer in my estimation than holding it in your hand while you slide a sharp edge with some pressure toward your fingers. I have one really good kitchen knife and I used this thing on it immediately after I received it. The blade became so sharp that I cut slice a piece of paper slightly folded. My good friend is a blacksmith specializing in blades and he said that’s how you tell if a knife is REALLY sharp. It was Cheers to the folks responsible for this thing. It’s a class operation and a superior product No, I was not paid to write this. I was just really stoked to get a good thing for my money.

As an ex- butcher turned Chippy I' pretty fanatical about things being sharp, and the Sharp Pebble range ensures just that. Quality products that do the job!

I am just starting to develop a system to care for my knives and cutting tools. Historically, I have kept a stone and grinder for chisels and axers, but I am only now learning to effectively care for my knives. In part, because I am acquiring better knives but also because as I become a better chef, I am starting to recognize how essential sharp knives are to better tast and presentation. The Sharp Pebble Classic Leather Strop kit is my latest addition to that process. It is a little more expensive than some but it is a quality product, it includes polishing compound, and the Sharp Pebble team has great resources to help you get up and running if you are new to all the subtle variants you can apply to ensuring the sharpest cutting edge. I have already taken a few nicks out of the finish but I am becoming more comfortable and skilled with the process. It is always good to buy something of quality, because I believe this strop will survive my learning process whereas I suspect I would already be in the process of replacing many other products.

Very good quality. I let the green compound stuff sit in the sun for 10min wail i rubbed a tea spoon of mineral oil (paraffin) into the leather very well. The compound went on very easily maybe too much oil. I put enough compound on to see a light wax look coating. It didn’t strop as well as i would have liked, but by the fourth use with half as much compound it sharpened and mirror shined my chisels literally razor sharp. Less is better I Used a GoHelper honing guide with eze angle fixture, a 325g/1200g sharple combo large diamond stone with a 600g eze lap single (all from amazon) and this strop (x30 - 50 pull backs) to hone it (once it can cut thru paper easily from sharpening). Touch ups are 600g for a min, 1200g for 40 strokes and then 30 pulls on strop. Remember to flatten and polish the back of your chisel first only the bottom 25mm or 1” it takes ages but gives a far, far sharper edge. And makes future sharpening easy and fast

I purchased a bamboo mounted leather sharpening strop from Sharp Pebbles having found them via a web search. The goods arrived very quickly, with the sharpening paste and very clear instructions. Follow-up was excellent. I am very happy to recommend them. Geoff Mills, Beckley, Oxon.

In the right hands, this compact, rubber-footed strop block gets it done. With some care, it could last a lifetime. (Depending on how many blades you have, and how well you treat them besides) Very effective for paring, petty, cleaver and santoku. Longer blades will require more patience. Includes years worth of aluminium oxide based polish. I mean years.