Leather Knife Care Kit, Roll with Stone, Strop and Oil
Leather Knife Care Kit, Roll with Stone, Strop and Oil
Please enter the text you want engraved.
- Engraving adds 3 to 5 business days.
- We engrave your text exactly as typed, so double check the spelling.
- We send a proof image before we engrave.
- Engraved blades cannot be returned or exchanged unless the blade itself is defective.
Most knives that get thrown out were never worn out. They were put away damp, or left dull until nobody reached for them. This is the kit that stops that, a leather roll holding a bench stone, a strop insert, a polishing cloth and a bottle of oil. The leather is vegetable tanned full grain, mid brown. No knife is included.
Specification
| Item | Knife care kit in a leather roll |
| Size | Rolls out to 11 inches by 7 inches |
| Leather | Vegetable tanned full grain, mid brown |
| Tooling | Stamped basket weave on the flap |
| Stitching | Hand stitched, cream thread |
| Edges | Burnished dark |
| Hardware | Leather tie, no metal |
| Fits | One folder or one fixed blade at a time |
| What is included | The roll, a bench stone, a leather strop insert, a polishing cloth and a bottle of oil. No knife is included. |
| Personalising | Stamped initials, 20 dollars per piece |
| Made in | Cut and stitched by hand in High Point, North Carolina. |
| Warranty | Lifetime warranty against defects in the stitching and the hardware. |
The leather
The leather is vegetable tanned full grain, mid brown. Bark tanning is the slow way to do it and it leaves the hide able to keep changing. Handle a piece for a year and it firms up and goes darker, hands first. Chrome tanned leather stays the colour it was sold in. Bark tanning also holds an impression, which is why the flap carries a stamped basket weave. That goes on while the leather is damp, one strike at a time, each row lined against the last. Dry leather takes nothing.
How it is made
Panels are cut by hand from one side of leather so the roll matches itself. The pockets are laid out and then stitched down with two needles working the same hole from both sides, cream thread pulled tight. Slower than a machine, and it does not unravel down the seam when one stitch gives. The raw edges are wet, rubbed hard and burnished dark until they go glossy and stop fuzzing. The hardware is a leather tie and nothing else.
How it is used
Roll it out on a bench and everything is where you left it. The stone sits still and the oil is already to hand. Work one blade at a time. Stone first, until the edge bites your thumbnail instead of sliding off it. Then the strop, with the blade drawn backwards along the leather, which straightens the very edge rather than grinding steel away. Wipe down, a light film of oil, roll up, tie.
Who it suits
This one suits anybody whose knives are better than their habits.
- People who own good steel and mean to look after it
- Anyone who wants stone and strop in one place
- Cooks and hunters who sharpen twice a year
- Buyers after a present that gets used
What comes in the box
- The knife care kit in its leather roll
- A bench stone, a leather strop insert and a bottle of oil
- A polishing cloth
- No knife is included
Every piece is different
No two rolls come out the same. The hide varies along its length, so one flap takes the basket weave crisper than the next. Old scars and growth marks stay where they are, because full grain leather is not sanded smooth first. Yours will sit near the photograph, not on it.
Looking after it
Keep it out of standing water. If it does get soaked, let it dry slowly on its own, away from a radiator, because heat leaves leather hard and brittle. Feed it with a leather conditioner once or twice a year. Do not roll a wet blade up inside it. Steel shut in damp leather is how a good knife ends up pitted. More is on our knife care and sharpening page.
Put a name on it
Leather gets stamped rather than laser engraved. The letters are struck into damp hide, so the mark darkens as the rest of the piece darkens. It is 20 dollars per piece and around 20 characters fits, so initials or a short name. You approve a proof image before anything is struck, which adds 3 to 5 business days. Ten pieces or more and we do it for nothing. Details on the engraving page.
Questions buyers ask
Is a knife included? No. You get the roll, the stone, the strop insert, the cloth and the oil.
What size blade does it handle? One folder or one fixed blade at a time.
How often should I bother? Twice a year keeps most knives honest, about fifteen minutes each time.
Does the strop replace the stone? No. The stone cuts metal away, the strop straightens what is left.
Is the leather waterproof? No leather is. Keep it dry, and dry it slowly if it gets wet.
How long does shipping take? Most US orders arrive in 5 to 7 business days.
If you already own a stone, the walnut strop board does the finishing on its own. For a stone with its own case there is the tooled stone pouch. The rest of the leather sits in sheaths and accessories, presents in gifts for him, and the latest off the bench in new arrivals.