Do not depend upon the oilstone to give a perfect edge to either the chisels or the plane bits. It is nearly always best to finish sharpening the edge tools on a leather strop. Do not use the strop too much. The tendency is to round the edge, and this should not be done. A very few strokes should be sufficient to give the tool a keen edge. In stropping tools the motion is the reverse of what it is in whetting them. The tool is drawn as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 202 and entirely lifted from the strop on the return stroke.

The expensive strops such as are used in sharpening razors are not required for this work. A strop may be made from almost any bit of leather two or three inches wide and eight to twelve inches long. With the scraper Fig. 191, clean the surface of a piece of heavy belting and you have an ideal strop for tools. Do not use any powder or other preparation on the strop to make it cut rapidly.

Fig. 202. Stropping Tools.