Can I put .25 micron spray on any strop?

[Steel130]

I've had the knivesplus strop for awhile. But I would lime to start experimenting with keeping my knife sharp by maintaining it on a strop. So I am considering the Kangaroo strop. I believe it is meant for the Edge Pro , but I have heard good thing about it for just freehand use as well. Or I am considering the stropman double sided. Getting the black coumpound for one side and spraying the .25 micron spray on the other side. Is the .25 fine for whichever strop I choose?

 

[Komitadjie]

The Kangaroo leather's biggest benefit is its EXTREMELY low native abrasive properties. That is to say, that bare kangaroo leather has as close to zero effect on the edge as possible without some agent being applied to it. With that in mind, it's a total waste to use Kangaroo leather at grits above a half micron, IMO. Ken's .25 micron spray will do great on pretty much any backing you wish to use, but I would probably avoid double-sided strops with grits like that. Cross-contamination is EXTREMELY likely, and while not that big of a deal in a 4u/1u strop set, going from the grit in a black compound to quarter-micron is going to be HUGE. Transferred grit would be a major problem with a jump like that, I'd think.

I would be tempted to strop with whatever you like down to .5u or so, then go with the finer compounds on a dedicated strop that is kept carefully stored away from any kind of contamination when you're not using it. Ken's kangaroo or nano-cloth strops are available in full sizes as well, not just 1x6 EP ones.

 

[Steel130]

Thanks. So basically instead of a double sided strop. It would be much safer to go with two seperate strops for each compound?

 

[Komitadjie]

Yes, it vastly reduces the potential for grit contamination, which is rather critical when you start getting down into ultra-fine grits like that. Ken Schwartz from Chef Knives to Go is an excellent source of answers for all things relating to ultra-fine abrasives like that, as is Keith from Hand American.

Also, be quite sure that your blade is exceedingly clean when changing between strops, again to prevent grit contamination. You just paid through the nose to coat that strop in extremely precisely-graded abrasive... you definitely don't want to drag pea gravel from the last strop onto that surface.

 

[Steel130]

Makes total sense. So do you think the black compound would work pretty well as more of a maintaning abrasive? And any suggestions for good single sided strops?

 

[Komitadjie]

Depends on exactly what kind of edge you like, but black works well for my working blades. I usually use black or green to give my knives a quick touch-up if I want to go to the leather with them and am away from my shop.

Fat Toad leather makes good ones, or you can just as cheaply obtain some quality leather and make your own. It's nothing magical. Internet is full of leatherworker's supply shops, most towns have at least one shoe repair place (often a good source of leather ends) and some 3M Super77 bonds it right on to whatever backer you like. I typically just use a piece of whatever wood I have laying around the shop.