Recommendation? Good strop for beginner?

Joined
Aug 18, 2018
Messages
5
Hi folks!

For the last few years I have been sharpening with a Sharpmaker with pretty good results. I'd like to take it to a more refined level. Could any one recommend a good strop for me? I have never used one before. I see there are both strap style and ones on a wood block. Do they need to be imbedded with any sort of polishing compound? Thanks for any advice!
 
This type of strop is what i sometimes make & give to people who regularly bring me a CRK or other quality (Chef-) knife for sharpening and/or some TLC, so they can maintain & keep the appearance of their new edge themselves for some time.
Even a few professional Chefs in my area with expensive gyuto's and santoku's in modern PM steel types are using these same strops with good results, so they keep telling me anyway.
I use them myself as well, and they are easy to make.




It's a new & cut-to-size piece of clean MDF coated with a thin layer of 1.0 micron (~ 14000 grit) mono-diamond compound, and i put 4 self-adhesive rubber bumpers on the bottom.
These make the strop non-slip plus they elevate the working surface a bit more which makes the strop more convenient to use on a table (more room for your hands)
Due to the harder surface the chances of rounding your crisp apex are also greatly dimished when compared to stropping on compressible materials like leather.
The strop surface can also be cleaned from time to time with a microfiber cloth and some acetone, which will remove all or most of the swarf without removing the diamond particles, as these become (partially) embedded in the MDF surface during the stropping proces.

GEDC0289.jpg
[/url]
GEDC0290.jpg
[/url]

But this is (literally) the key element: the placement on rubber bumpers also provides the strop user with acoustic feedback by isolating the MDF from the table (a bit like the bars on a xylophone); you can actually hear when you're arriving at the very apex during stropping movements as the audible sound changes, which makes the stropping proces very easy, even for absolute beginners.



The CRK Nyala used as a prop for the pictures was reprofiled (from 35-40 degrees inclusive to an even 30 degrees inclusive) & sharpened (with 15 micron diamond compound on a Paper Wheel).
The owner only uses this quite expensive knife to cut oranges, about 5 each day, i kid you not.
 
Last edited:
You can use many things for a strop ... from cardboard to denim to leather or wood ... kind of depends what you want to use the strop for and what type of edge you want on your blade ...

you can use compounds on any of them or just strop with no compound ... I use a horsehide strop with no compound to just touch up an edge after light use to keep it sharp ... if it needs a bit more I'll use one with compound

Knives Ship Free sells a basic cowhide leather strop it's a decent strop but has some give and can convex edges if you use it for more than a touch up or if you press firmly ...

DLT Trading sells a nice horsehide leather strop that is bigger and horse hide is firmer and less chance of convexing accidentally ... but works on a convexed edge and can put a convex on with it ... but it is firmer leather.

balsa wood strops are soft but were my first step into wood strops ... I found I prefer the horsehide and they produce about the same results.

bass wood was recommemd to me so that was my next wood strop and it is firmer and works well to touch up and keep a microbevel.

if you want an even firmer base ... you can use a hardwood and compounds or you can stretch denim over a hardwood and use compounds.

now compounds depend on the type of steel you are using it on ...the crayon bar type compounds work well with softer steels ... the black and green are what I use ... the white is much finer grit I don't go that high but you can ...

for harder steels you will need to use CBN or Diamond pastes or sprays to get good results ... and it just depends how polished you want as to what micron (or grit) you use.

those are just basics from my personal experience ... I'm sure some of the more experienced skilled sharpeners will come along and get more specific ... but it will depend on your steel types and what you want the strop to do.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mo2
Chef knives to go, have a really good strop kit and a bunch of different diamond or cbn pastes, some are very inexpensive. I'd recommend this for any powdered steel knife.

If you have ingot steel knives I'd recommend what's already been said above with some green compound. If you can find green compound with a mix of aluminum oxide and SiC mix, that would be idea.
 
The price is fair... But...

Double sided is not idea because you will contaminate each side with the other grit. You want to avoid contamination. If you get a more coarse grit on the finer grit size it's going to play havoc in your work. You could hang it on a lanyard to avoid that but Also you won't be able to seal it in a bag for the first reason. You want to seal it in a bag to preserve the leathers natural oils. A double sided strop in a bag is going to contaminate.

Also as I mentioned above using the correct abrasives for the steel you have. What steel do you have? The bars are a mix of chromium oxide and alumina oxide which is good for most steels until you get into high Vanadium steels or just steel over 60hrc which I would recommend using diamond or cbn compounds.

But hey do what you like... It's not like it's a humongous deal. You could just debur on a stone with some practice. Though this may be a more advanced technique.
 
Last edited:
Hi folks!

For the last few years I have been sharpening with a Sharpmaker with pretty good results. I'd like to take it to a more refined level. Could any one recommend a good strop for me? I have never used one before. I see there are both strap style and ones on a wood block. Do they need to be imbedded with any sort of polishing compound? Thanks for any advice!
Hi,
What are pretty good result, whittle head hair and tree topping arm hair (cut arm hair above the skin)? Are you using lube (water or oil) on the fine stone?
That is possible with a regular sharpmaker and no strops.
check this pretty good list of debugging steps for getting silly sharp with the sharpmaker
Spyderco Sharpmaker Advanced Sharpening Curriculum / Trouble sharpening super blue - Spyderco Forums
 
I am able to bring most knives to a very good "working edge". That means easily shaving arm/leg hair. Not able to whittle or "tree top", although I wouldn't mind if I could. Maybe instead of a strop I could try the ultra fine Sharpmaker stones?
 
I am able to bring most knives to a very good "working edge". That means easily shaving arm/leg hair. Not able to whittle or "tree top", although I wouldn't mind if I could. Maybe instead of a strop I could try the ultra fine Sharpmaker stones?
Hi,
If you're easily shaving arm/leg hair, as the curriculum says, you're not far from whittling, maybe as low as 5-10 ultra light water lubed edge leading alternating passes per side away or as much as 60 (extra shaping passes).

So take one of these shaving blades and try something like 2 ultra light alternating edge leading passes per side at ~40 degrees per side on the flats of the spyderco medium stones
followed by 5 ultra light alternating edge leading passes per side on the flats of the spyderco fine stone , with water for lube, using your last non double(non 40) degree per side angle


If either strop or spyderco ultrafine stone make sense to you for any reason go for it.
Consider,
spyderco ultrafine is a pre-worn spyderco fine,
its possible to whittle with coarser grits,
@Wowbagger strops on spyderco ultra fine :)
diamond pastes can be had for $1 (individual or in sets) for use with popsicle sticks

Are the Sharpmaker UF stones worth it? - Spyderco Forums
spyderco-sharpmaker-stropping.1415316 ultrafine
minimum-grit-or-micron-hair-splitting.1493089
jasonstone20: drop of mineral oil takes care of the swarf and keeps the paste on the wood cutting
 
I'm cheap, really cheap. So I took an old leather belt, cut it to fit a paint stir stick and glued the pieces to both sides. I haven't gotten any compound yet, but so far I haven't needed any, as I can get the edge very sharp. Works for me.
 
I haven't done any serious shopping for a strop in quite a while. But you might want to take a look at a RUSSIAN BOAR strop like the one I got from a Barber Supply company. I like it better than most regular leather strops.

Also there is a woodworking website/catalog that sells really high quality strops called "LEE VALLEY". I've always been impressed with their line up. There is also a company that sells all kinds of sharpening gear known as the GARRETT WADE. Over the years I've had great luck with almost everything I've bought from them. GOOD LUCK and keep us posted
 
I just ordered my first strop from Flexstrops - comes preloaded with compound and seems reasonably priced. I really appreciate all the info in this thread and on these boards as I try to learn more.
 
What is "nano cloth"??? And who could you buy a Kangaroo leather strop from here in the USA???
Cktg has both

Nano cloth is idea for cbn and diamond spray. I've never experimented with it yet.
Item Description
After a great deal of research and experimentation, I have found a material that has almost no effect on sharpening an edge - less than leather, felt, or balsa. For extremely fine compounds, you don't want what you put your compounds on to provide more abrasion than the compounds, so this is an IDEAL substrate for your finest compounds. MUCH less give than even the hardest of felts, this is a synthetic fiber producing a completely uniform surface that holds compound in place.

This 3" x 8" nano cloth is mounted on glass with a magnet backing to give an exceptionally flat surface with outstanding characteristics. Use this size in standard stoneholders. The cloth has less draw than kangaroo leather and is suitable for use with the finest of compounds. Not ideal for use with pastes, but rather sprays with deionized water such as the CBN and poly and mono diamond compounds from 1 micron down to 0.025 micron diamond. The cloth also doesn't fluff out from water. Provides an ultimate level of performance for knife and razor edges. Like leather, use edge trailing strokes only. Absolutely superb to use for edge touch-ups too!
 
I am able to bring most knives to a very good "working edge". That means easily shaving arm/leg hair. Not able to whittle or "tree top", although I wouldn't mind if I could. Maybe instead of a strop I could try the ultra fine Sharpmaker stones?


I can top and whittle hairs no problem after the UF stones on the sharpmaker (no stropping). I'd recommend giving them a shot!
 
It always amazes me how much money people will spend on the the Emperor's New Clothes...


Stitchawl
 
Back
Top