Do you strop with the smooth side or the Rough side?

[DanMan4142]

I was reading in another forum how it is reccomended to use the smooth side of a piece of leather for stroping, but I have always thought it was the rough side that is best to use for final edge honing. What do you guys do?

 

[Gossman Knives]

Smooth side works for me. Can't comment on the rough side, never tried it.
Scott

 

[Roadrunner]

Either/Or. Unless you're sharpening a straight razor it makes little difference.

 

[akee]

Don't mean to hijack this thread, but since we are at it, what is you favourite stropping compound?

thanks,
kee

 

[Gossman Knives]

I use 600 grit white aluminum oxide compound. You can get it from any of the knifemakers supply companies or go to your local hardware store and ask for it.
Scott

 

[gud4u]

For touch-ups, I use smooth-surface strop with 10,000-grit chromium oxide. The firmer surface allows more precise control of honing angle.

I use a rough-surface strop with 600- or 800-grit abrasive powder for polishing the sides of blades or removing blemishes.

The problem with finishing an edge with the long-fiber rough-surface strop is that the greater elasticity (softness) tends to convex the blade bevel, resulting in unintentional rounding of the final edge bevel. If you WANT to convex the blade bevels, then the softer rough-out strop surface makes sense, but you should use more acute blade/strop angles to prevent rounding the final edge.

 

[Jeff Clark]

I agree with gud4u--a very well written response. If you only do a little stropping on a heavier/harder knife blade you may not see a lot of difference as Roadrunner says. For thin edges or if you do a lot of stropping you should be careful to use a smooth strop without foriegn particles embedded.

PS. Use light pressure and a relatively hard strop if you want to prevent edge rounding. Some edge rounding will give you a more durable edge, but too much and cutting performance (well at least shaving performance) will suffer.

 

[akee]

Thanks for the tips Guys. I have a better understanding now.

kee

 

[ivan_yulaev]

Hey, has anyone ever stropped with Noxon or Flitz on a piece of paper? I tried it a few times with good and quick results each time. Plus, the materials run you about 5$ at a hardware store.