Anybody strop their knives?

Tecate said:
That is very kind of you, but keep your #1 spot. :)

I buy knives from Makael every once in a while and maybe the next one I buy I'll have him make me a strop as well. Thanks though.
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you do a lot for the forum, and we all appreciate it,....new releases posted and information from factory and such and well I dont.;) so I dont mind seeing ya get it is all. thank you though.
 
I didn’t use to strop that often. Since getting a small strop with compound already on free with a knife purchase, I strop more often, especially on frequently used blades.
 
I have 4 address's so far. If your reading this please forward me your shipping info to-

mikelooper@hotmail at .com
 
I believe very much in using the strop to complete my sharpening. It takes all the burrs away and shows the edge for what it is. If both sides are equal in degrees you should get a very sharp edge from tip to tang. Mine is store bought but boots and belts work in a pinch.
 
I consider myself to be a decent, but not great sharpener. I've never stropped with an actual strop, I strop on cardboard and paper. It's definitely worthwhile, even on a less finely honed edge. I paper stropped a tiny little imported Buck 325 after applying a 750 grit edge, and it grabs arm hairs. On a bigger knife, I stropped a 220 grit edge and it cuts like a ripsaw and has a decent bit of push cutting ability. Carbon and steels similar to 420HC respond really well to stropping.
 
Makael said:
I read in one of the blade magazines that under normal use a person would only need to truly sharpen a knife a couple times a year if stropped regularly. I’ll try it.
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That might depend on how much one wears the blade down before stropping.
 
I'm too late for the 10 list, but how large a piece of leather do you need? I've been looking at the strops on Ebay, but it seems most of them coming from China would be too small to work easily with.

Growing up, I remember my dad stropping his knife on his leather belt. Of course he never used any sort of compound on his belt :)
 
bikerector said:
I strop and have really good experiences with the softer, low carbide steels. Things like D2 and S30V don't strop well for me at all and the basic compound I use. I suppose it's akin to trying to sharpen with a basic stone instead of a diamond stone, just takes more time and I'm too lazy.

Often, I can get a really nice edge with the stone or buck edgetek diamond rod but the strop more consistently gets that last little bit of sharpness for me. Also, it seems that once I have my own edge on the knife, past the factory edge, which tends to be a little thinner, they strop up nice. Thin edges strop really well for me.

One thing I can't strop is coated blades, like what Esee, Becker, and Busse knives have. The compound seems to get peeled off of the strop right at the clean steel and coating interface and it pulls on the strop hard and is just not a good experience for me.



Stropman (since passed) stated that you could just rub it on and don't worry about the crumbling. A few passes with the knife will push it into the leather and push the excess to the edges. You can warm it up too though, and that was a technique mentioned as the compound is roughly an abrasive in a wax of some type I think.
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I've had the same experience stopping Busse's coated blades. Never had one that kept it's coating for too long!!
 
jtb1967 said:
I'm too late for the 10 list, but how large a piece of leather do you need? I've been looking at the strops on Ebay, but it seems most of them coming from China would be too small to work easily with.

Growing up, I remember my dad stropping his knife on his leather belt. Of course he never used any sort of compound on his belt :)
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jtp1967,

Quite possibly the best, most used strop I own is the small one on the Work Sharp Guided Field Sharpener. It's only 1/2 in. wide and 4 inches long, but is very easy to dial in the angle and right amount of pressure to strop most blade shapes and sizes.

 
Thank you for your kind and generous gift. I'm looking forward to gluing it to a piece of cabinet grade plywood that I have.

Have a blessed day,

Leon
 
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