A Strop

Joined
Sep 23, 2002
Messages
4
WHEN I WAS YOUNGER I WAS TOLD WHEN YOU LEARN TO SHARPEN A KNIFE SO IT WILL SHAVE YOUR HAIR OFF THEN YOU WERE JUST LEARNING HOW TO SHARPEN ONE. I HAVE DONE SOME READING ON STROPS BUT NEVER USED ONE. I SPENT 6 YEARS IN THE 5th SPECIAL FORCES AND GOD KNOWS I KNOW HOW TO SHARPEN A KNIFE. SO MY QUESTION IS HOW MUCH MORE OF AN EDGE WILL A STROP PRODUCE. YHANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP !!
 
a strop will maintain a sharp edge, or refine one you've allready sharpened. Of course with some compound you can produce a good edge also. The upside to a strop is it takes very little, to almost no metal off, and you can produce a much better refined edge compared to any other method. :)
 
I believe that the most significant contribution that stroping provides to sharp is to clean the microserrates in the cutting edge. You can strop a knife on the palm of your hand and bring cut back when testing blades for cut. This does not apply to all steels but to those that are (for example) sharpened on a Norton Fine India stone.
 
Hello all. I may get laughed off this thread, but I wanted to share a "Rube Goldberg" type idea I'm using to learn to strop.
I bought a weightlifters belt on sale for $15 at Sports Authority, (probably many other places as well), and it has been very useful. It has a rough side and a smooth coated or waxed side, is 4" wide for about 2 feet in the center of the belt, and narrows to 2" at each end. I lay it out on a desk and it handles all sizes and types of edges quite well. I have never "charged" it with any polish, but am thinking about giving that a try. I also finish smaller blades on the back of a small "legal" type pad of paper which is easy to carry with me, and can still be used to write down things I might forget.
JMHO. YMMV.

I like this forum a lot!

El Lobo
 
El, sounds good to me!!! you can use a belt piece of carboard, your jeans!!! many different things!!! I have a piece of cowhide left over from some sheaths I made this last year. It was shoulder material, but it had a good section suitable for a strop!!!
 
Back
Top