Finally stropped

Varga Knives · Aug 3, 2011

My XM-18 has been less than sharp for awhile now. Alright, I'll call it like it is, it's DULL. Been flirting with different sharpening ideas for some time but could never pull the trigger. Never been a problem with my Spyderco's and Benchmade's, I just grabbed whatever stone or stick at hand and went to it, although never with great results, always just sharp enough. I could never bring myself to do this with my XM-18 and hence the procrastination. Finally bought a strop which came with the black and green compunds. To make one myself would have been easy enough, but for only $19, I saved the hastle of buying the right leather and the compunds. Found a great how-to video on BladeForums and I can't believe how good it came out. Not shaving sharp but I have a razor for that anyway. It now slices thin strips off paper and is more than adequate for the real world. Very happy!

R0CKETMAN · Aug 3, 2011

Good job...Reminds me I need to get some strops for my WE...got a link to the video?

Varga Knives · Aug 4, 2011

http://www.knivesshipfree.com/pages/Sharpening-Videos

If I had the funds I would be getting the WE. Looks like a great system.

Magnaminous_G · Aug 4, 2011

strider214 said:
My XM-18 has been less than sharp for awhile now. Alright, I'll call it like it is, it's DULL. Been flirting with different sharpening ideas for some time but could never pull the trigger. Never been a problem with my Spyderco's and Benchmade's, I just grabbed whatever stone or stick at hand and went to it, although never with great results, always just sharp enough. I could never bring myself to do this with my XM-18 and hence the procrastination. Finally bought a strop which came with the black and green compunds. To make one myself would have been easy enough, but for only $19, I saved the hastle of buying the right leather and the compunds. Found a great how-to video on BladeForums and I can't believe how good it came out. Not shaving sharp but I have a razor for that anyway. It now slices thin strips off paper and is more than adequate for the real world. Very happy!

can you provide the link to that video?

Varga Knives · Aug 4, 2011

See above

My hat goes off to John Drollette (I only give his name because he gives it out in the video) for putting together the best instructional video I've seen on the subject. He has some other vidoes out on the Web that I haven't viewed yet but I'm looking forward to the Sharpmaker video.

cziv · Aug 10, 2011

I was bored last night and my wife was at work. One of those nights - nothing on the tube and knives on the brain (getting old huh?)

Anyway, I went to the Dr. for a pain related issue and he gave me something that apparently impaired my judgement. I got my XM-18 out and decied to give it a few passes on the DMT x-fine and xx-fine hones. When I got done I could feel a slight burr on my shaving sharp blade. I remembered that I just spent an hour or so last week with the aligner and already had a perfect edge on it.

So after a touch here and a touch there I got out the 3 micron and 1 micron strops out and carefully & lightly did about 6 passes per side, per per strop and it's sizzling again. What a dumb*ss!

Varga Knives · Aug 10, 2011

Moral to the story; dumb things happen when your bored.

Still new at this so... can a 3 micron, a 1 micron, or a whatever micron be distinguished by the color? If so, what are the microns of the different colors? If not, are microns only a measurement for the paste that comes in those syringes?

cziv · Aug 10, 2011

strider214 said:
Moral to the story; dumb things happen when your bored.

Still new at this so... can a 3 micron, a 1 micron, or a whatever micron be distinguished by the color? If so, what are the microns of the different colors? If not, are microns only a measurement for the paste that comes in those syringes?

I use DMT Dia-Paste. Your answer is in this description from Knife Center a member/dealer here and a trusted source.

Improve tool performance with DMT’s easy-to-use Dia-Paste™ Diamond Compound. A light application will create a highly polished, mirror finish, reducing tool friction for a sharper, stronger edge allowing more use between sharpening. Packaged in convenient 2-gram tube. Kit of 3: Copper coded (6 micron / 4000 mesh) removes scratches with light pressure polishing action. Yellow coded (3 micron / 8000 mesh) for a glossy bevel edge. Gray coded (1 micron / 15000 mesh) for the ultimate polished mirror bevel edge. Apply oil-based compound to flat surface; using precise angle control, sharpen tool against the compound to achieve desired results. For proper tool maintenance, woodworkers, chefs and other professionals rely on the superior quality and versatility of DMT® products. Made in USA.

The colors aren't true in all cases. My current set of tubes look more like a reddish for the 6 micron, yellow for the 3 micron and white for the 1 micron. Hope this helps.