I must be doing something wrong...

Some folks also use post it notes on a hard surface, some use the cardboard-ish backing on note pads/spiral note books. While I hope one of these helps, it might be that stropping isn't your cup o tea. When I sharpen my straight razors, none of the conventional wisdom works for me. I have to do it my own way, and it works.

For example, I can take a Belgian Coticule stone, which should be the final hone for any razor, and dull it. I also dull knives with it. Who knows? Maybe I said something bad about Belgium that I don't remember.... I have to use other methods instead of the Coticule.
 
I'm not sure what you problem is (I posed a message about the wonder of strops). I got a cheap strop on the Net -- a thin piece of leather glued to a board with a tube of Flitz. I just rubbed some Flitz into the leather and began stropping using all the info I found here and on YouTube. I just lightly stropped a knife that was sharp, but not shaving sharp, and the strop did a good job of taking the edge to the next level.

I think my success, and I'm not good at this at all, was lightly stopping using the original bevel on the knive and checking it often. If you hold the knive a little higher than the original bevel you should, if you think about it, get almost a micro bevel on the edge you've already created.

I thought about using a hanging belt, but the more I thought about it I would just be rounding off the edge I worked on with my stones. Just start with a few very light strokes and see if things are getting better. Like with stones, less tend to be better.

After reading your post, I grabbed a very small Swiss Army knife, that would not shave, gave it a few light sweeps on the strop and it started to shave the hair off my arms.

It sounds like you have the sharpening part down pat, and I'll bet it took awhile to get to that point in your sharpening education. I'm thinking that if the leather is too soft, or your compound ain't right, you may be rounding your original edge.

Hang in there. Up to the strop part it sounds like you're doing a lot better than many in these forums. You'll get it. BTW, stop scaring the cat.
 
Thanks to all for input and feedback. I will let this be a work in progress. I'm going to keep at this and hopefully will triumph into a full time stropper. If not, thats ok. I enjoy my knives and I do take pride in keeping them sharp. I have considered the Edge Pro and paper wheels, but they both seem like alot of trouble IMO. I know that just like other things in life some people can and some cannot. If I am a cannot, so be it.
Thanks again.
 
Hey, I have this problem too. I've tried stropping on cardboard with Autosol...the edge got polished but duller.

I'll keep at it :D
 
there are a few videos on youtube that brought my sharpening to a whole new level..i too could never get that razor edge that i wanted..but murray carter's technique totally change that check out this video that shows the right way to strop...be it on leather or stone..he starts stoping at 2:00 into the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuOlGGl97dI


he has a website thats awesome.. and will send tips to you if you sign up...the next video is a kid that does somthing close, just with different tools..wich is what i use since i dont have a nice 6000 grit king waterstone like murray uses...i get that razor edge no problem now...just remember get it as sharp possible before stroping,and edge angle is key! the other thing is a polished edge is deceptively smooth to the touch but shaves hair like no other...ENJOY!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQCkKPGSOtA&feature=related
 
Granted, I'm one of the people who started sharpening freehand, so it came sort of natural to me. That being said, its not that difficult, here is what I do (on a hard backed strop, leather on wood):

Lay the knife's primary grind flat on the strop, lift the spine of the knife until the edge bevel is flush with the strop, put a finger lightly on the edge of the knife to hold it flush and pull the knife back. You should not really use any downward pressure, other than what is needed to keep the knife steady.

I've heard its easiest doing this from tip to ricasso, rotating the blade so the edge bevel is always facing straight ahead on the strop, but I prefer ricasso to tip motions.

When I have a decent edge, I load the corner edge of my strop and start stropping (still almost no pressure) on the corner as if I was using a steel. This seems to give me really good results.

Never used a non-backed strop.
 
Sad to hear of your troubles, Red. Reminds me of my initial frustrations with waterstones. In that case, there was a definite rounding over of the edges, because I hadn't factored in the slurry that tends to form while using them. Anyway, I hope you pinpoint that crucial error that's giving you trouble and can get the knack for it.

A couple years ago, I had read a post where someone said they stropped on their jeans and then the palm of their hand. The idea appealed to me because I didn't have to invest in new equipment, even if it may not yield quite the same results. I've taken up using denim as a stropping medium of late and it does actually get my blades that little bit sharper. Seems like I strop now more frequently than I go back to my SharpMaker stones.
 
My strop (leather on board) is not smooth. It has dips and valleys and so forth from the cowhide. Not smooth and perfectly flat like a leather work belt. Any cure for this? I have not used it much because it is not giving me any love, and maybe really loading it up and using it would help.

nov102008004Medium.jpg
 
powernoodle said:
My strop (leather on board) is not smooth. It has dips and valleys and so forth from the cowhide. Not smooth and perfectly flat like a leather work belt. Any cure for this? I have not used it much because it is not giving me any love, and maybe really loading it up and using it would help.
Click to expand...
Other people might have varying experiences but I would consider my strop overloaded if it had as much compound as the one that you have pictured.
 
Why don't you guys try polishing your edges ON the compound bar itself? There is no real advantage to applying it to leather.
 
Bill DeShivs said:
Why don't you guys try polishing your edges ON the compound bar itself? There is no real advantage to applying it to leather.
Click to expand...


Because the compound will melt and flow from the friction and not polish as well as if it were stuck in place, like on leather.

I hope you kidding about the leather thing :confused:
 
Polishing compound won't melt if you sharpen your knife on the bar, but it will dish quickly.
The only thing you are doing when you put compound on leather is using the leather to hold the polishing medium.
Applying the compound to a piece of paper, cardboard, wood, or fiber will work just as well-if not better.
Leather in itself is a polishing medium that is finer than most compounds. It also tends to grab burrs and remove them.
 
Bill DeShivs said:
Polishing compound won't melt if you sharpen your knife on the bar, but it will dish quickly.
The only thing you are doing when you put compound on leather is using the leather to hold the polishing medium.
Applying the compound to a piece of paper, cardboard, wood, or fiber will work just as well-if not better.
Leather in itself is a polishing medium that is finer than most compounds. It also tends to grab burrs and remove them.
Click to expand...

Ahh, so what you're saying is that it's like adding milk and coffee to cafe au lait?
 
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