Walnut Bases for 11.5x2.5 DMT Plates and Felt Strops

I have been working on a number of accessories that I would like to complement my knives with, and one of them is a walnut base for DMT Plate that can also double as a strop. DMT plate flat surface makes it an ideal for attaching a felt strop (with magnetic backing) to it. So in short, you get two products in one - a sharpening plate that doesn't need soaking or flattening and a strop.

WIP to show what it takes to make a base from a raw lumber to a finished product.

The process is as following:
- Flattening Wood on a Joiner (in the pictures it's maple)
- Resawing into planks
- Squaring planks
- Cutting strips into base blanks
- Marking blanks
- Chamfering edges
- Rabbeting plate to recess feet
- Chamfering bottom (for a comfortable hand grip)
- Removing wood to recess the DMT plate
- Hand-sanding
- Sealing wood with Tru-Oil (several applications with steel wool sanding in-between)
- Finish with hand-applied Poly or spray Lacquer


Felt Strops
- Join the surface of magnetic backing and felt with contact cement
- Cut to size

Flattening Wood on a Joiner

Resawing into planks

Squaring planks

 Cutting strips into base blanks

 Marking blanks

 Chamfering edges

 Chamfering bottom (for a comfortable hand grip)

 Removing wood to recess the DMT plate

Sealing wood with Tru-Oil (several applications with steel wool sanding in-between)

 Finished Product