Cardboard Stropping?

B

btuner

Joined
Jun 12, 2007
Messages
300
anyone ever heard of using or actually used Cardboard for stropping a knife back to sharpness. i saw it on here on someone's knife box in a picture that they had posted of their knife... thoughts? ideas? concerns?
 
It won't do much unless you add an abrasive compound on the cardboard. If you have just a slightly dull knife or a soft carbon steel you could get somewhere with plain cardboard. We are not talking about corregated box cardboard. This is cardboard like on the back of a pad of paper. I like to use the cardboard while it is still attached to a pad. I put some extremely fine diamond dust on that cardboard and it works quite well. Don't apply too much pressure or you may round off your edge. Green or white buffing compound can also work on the cardboard.
 
hmmmm... ill have to try and see what happens. its just a very slightly dull knife, not even to the point where i would take it to my finest stone. just wondering if this would keep it sharp if i ran it across the cardboard after every use or so
 
I use steels to straighten, sandpaper on rubber matting or mousepad (1200 grit) and a strop loaded with alluminum oxide and wd-40. For damaged edges that the steels don't straighten out I use a file. I also use a good stone when thinning a new knife out. I like thinner edges on most of my knives. I always put convexed edges on though. No v's here :p

Sorry to go off topic.

:D another thing I stropped with was thick canvas backed by rubber matting loaded up with aluminum oxide and wd-40. Helped polish the edge up. I also have a griptillian that I really like to use at work because of the combo edge. I thinned the serrations out and convexed/thinned out the edge to the point where it's basically as sharp as a straight razor. It's fine and polished enough that I can strop it on the bottom of one of the rubber mats we have on the floor at work and it'll bring it back to shaving sharp when it starts to drag a little. I've tried cardboard and it really didn't do anything. Wasn't tough or abrasive. You'd be better off straightening the edge on a smooth piece of metal or on smooth concrete...I've also done both those things. They're not as good as anything else but good enough to help the edge out if done right.
 
i use corrugated cardboard loaded with tripoli and another with red rouge to strop with. i figured out quickly that i have to make my knife parallel to the ridges, or else i ended up only polishing stripes of my edge...in interesting effect to look at, but not what i want for cutting stuff.
 
As can be seen from everyone else's posts, not all cardboards are created equal. I work in a warehouse and I touch my work knives up on plain corrugated cardboard all the time. I've found that even two boxes out of the same bundle can have different levels of abrasiveness. I can feel more drag on more abrasive cardboard. If the box is dusty, the dust usually adds abrasiveness. I find that if I remember to strop my knife pretty regularly it helps maintain the edge, but I slack off and the blade gets too dull then I have to break out the DMT stone that I keep in my pocket because the stropping won't work anymore.
 
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