Cliff Stamp said:
Generally you can get a torque disadvantage due to excessive width but being too narrow usually isn't a concern. Could it be just a cross section issue, the edge is to thick/obtuse.
-Cliff
Not sure what it is, perhaps the geometry of spine-edge size isnt the real issue but now that I think about it I seem to prefer small pushcutters and slicers that have wider blades in that area. When I bought the glock knives I bought 2. One to leave alone since it seemed like a pretty hearty light weight outdoorsy knife and the other one to experiment since they were so cheap. The one I took with me had been back beveled to 18-20 degrees and had a 22-25 degree bevel on it. It was probably a little bit thicker than the ritter but its a much different knife all together.
The torque just seemed to fight me all the way around, even when choked up tight. It seems like the leading edge being ahead of the center axis of the knife gained some sort of benefit over parrallel or trailing edge. Seems to remind me of similar relationship between the center of pressure and center of gravity on a rocket. The reason you dont see any, for lack of a better term, "front wheel drive" rockets.
mcmc said:
LHD - I just recently got into knives and have a 154cm mini grip. Also got the sharpmaker and finally learned what the strop (which I've seen in movies w/ barbershop scenes lol) does - and am interested in getting one. Where is a good place to get one? And I guess I also need some kind of medium to use on the strop then - the boron carbide?
There are lots of media to strop with. Leather is the most common it seems. You can get either hanging strops (like you see in the barbershop movies) fixed strop (leather attached to a piece of wood usually) and a couple other options. I tend to use hanging strops since they are long and seem to be cheaper than the fixed strops. I lay them on a my workbench and use them like fixed strops, I dont tension them with my hand and a fixed point like you see in the movies since its generally accepted that its not as effective.
You can also use thick paper, cardboard and a huge number of other things as strops, almost all of which are made better with the addition of a stropping medium.
Stropping medium is generally very hard, very fine particles of things like Cro, Boron Carbide, Diamond and metal buffing compound. The finer the micron count the more polished the edge will be at the cost of more strokes in most cases. Just like with hones. Stropping medium is found in brick and mortar shops and online in dust, paste and sometimes block forms. Some types are cheap but they get very expensive quickly. Not to worry since you only need a miniscule amount of it. I believe Thom Brogan paid around $100 for a pound of the boron carbide from ceradyne since that was the smallest lot they will sell it in. I bought either 3 or 4 ounces from him and I dont think I've used 1/20th of 1 ounce yet and I usually strop something once a day. A little dab will do ya has never rung so true. Most people who I've met that get into stropping have multiple strops loaded with different compounds for different applications or to reduce thier strokes for extremely fine edges. Its just important to clean your edge very well before moving to the other strop else you risk cross polinating the two.
When you buy a strop you'll have to condition it unless it says its already been done. I usually do it anyway. You rub strop conditioner on with a toothbrush and let it sit for a while. The conditioner will come with instructions on the time. You may require 2 or 3 applications the first time.
Every now and then most people clean thier strops and the forums have found that hand sanitizer and a rag work well to do this. I usually condition them after cleaning and then reapply the compound the next day.
Honestly if you want to become very proficient with sharpening/stropping extremely quickly go buy a straightrazor, straightrazor hones, a quality strop (for your first one dont spend the extra money on russian leather since it will probably get beat up as you learn), glycol shaving gel/soap and a cheap synthetic shaving brush if you bought the glycol soap.
Use the straightrazor to shave the flats of your face. You'll quickly see what you need to do differently.
Holds a great edge and even though I have purposely neglected it on occasion it laughs off the neglect. The steel is AUS8 and sharpenes easy enough too. The other thing I like about the RAT1 is that the blade left Ontario with really nice geometry too. I usually regrind most every knife I plan on using right off the bat but this one was ready to go out of the box. Cost wise it doesn't sting too badly either 
