I stropped. I'm hooked.

It will improve a v-shaped edge. Stropping with compound polishes the edge, reomves a burr, and refines the edge to scary sharp.
 
dipbait said:
Every time I try stropping, knives get duller.
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That's what happened when I first started sharpening knives. They got duller. That's when I found out there's a trick to it. I also learned that chisel grind knives need different angles than double-grind knives. But when you stop a knife, you're essentially polishing the edge.

I recently bought a Leatherman Ti Charge with an S30V blade. Whoever ground the datgum thing just ground the edge and that was it. By thumbing it it felt almost bumpy and it was horrible. I sharpened it with ceramic stones and then stropped it until it felt smooth and sharp. For some edges, I've used Semichrome polish and a Q-tip. Some folks say toothpaste will work, too.


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I recently discovered stropping too. After using my Spyderco Rock Salt to chop up a tree fallen across a trail, the edge was blunted a bit. On a whim, I stropped it on my belt instead of breaking out a stone... and the edge was back almost at once. :thumbup: I like.
 
i have yet to try stropping, i dunno if their would be a point to it when i use DMT extra fine hones then to roll the edge back true use a knife steel i made and prepped when i was working as a slaughter man.

eventually give it a try probably, always open to new sharpening methods...never looked back going from hand stones to diamond hones.
 
I'm about to order a two-sided strop & compounds from Bark River. I use a DMT aligner kit with all the grits from 120 to 8000. I sometimes strop on cardboard but I'm not sure if it helps. Hard to tell. Do I need the muscle memory to hold a perfect angle to make this work?
 
Have a stropbat and compounds coming from JRE Industries,Cant wait!Been using a hanging strop for years,before that belts.What is it with belts?If I were to line up all my old belts from shortest to longest it would resemble the evolution of man chart.!
 
After my first strop experience I was hooked too. It is a nice way to maintain an edge while you are using it as well as after you sharpen it.

When I am carving wood I will stop every once in a while to strop the edge. It really helps to maintain sharpness.

On a side note, I bought a really hard natural stone a while ago (3 inches). I have found that it works really well too; it hones the edge to nice polish and leaves almost no burr that I can detect. Now I am stuck between my strop and my hone -but when I have time I just use both.
 
jeffphansen77 said:
I'm about to order a two-sided strop & compounds from Bark River. I use a DMT aligner kit with all the grits from 120 to 8000. I sometimes strop on cardboard but I'm not sure if it helps. Hard to tell. Do I need the muscle memory to hold a perfect angle to make this work?
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One thing you can do is cut a piece of leather to fit the aligner where the stones go using one of the dmt stones as a template. Then you can keep the same angle when you strop.
 
Robert.B said:
i have yet to try stropping, i dunno if their would be a point to it when i use DMT extra fine hones then to roll the edge back true use a knife steel i made and prepped when i was working as a slaughter man.

eventually give it a try probably, always open to new sharpening methods...never looked back going from hand stones to diamond hones.
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Dude, you should definately give it a try. I've been useing DMT stones lately and I can get blades to shave arm hairs just fine, but when I finish that same blade with a strop and compound it starts to "pop" the hairs off!

Pluss I like the look of an edge pollished to a nice mirror finish. :thumbup:
 
I love the idea of making a loaded leather insert for my aligner stone holder. Thanks. I take it that the stropping angle is that critical then. I know you can't go too shallow without rolling the edge. In the meantime, I'll be cutting the back of a legal pad to experiment with the concept. Off the cuff I'd say that the strop insert should be slightly shorter than the stones for a slight secondary microbevel effect. The bane of non-diamond angle guides is the lower grits wearing faster & getting shorter than the next stones you use.
 
knifenut 1013 way to go, great selection. yes v grinds can be stropped. one of the formites really gave me great tech. info 2 weeks ago.
 
BryFry said:
Dude, you should definately give it a try. I've been useing DMT stones lately and I can get blades to shave arm hairs just fine, but when I finish that same blade with a strop and compound it starts to "pop" the hairs off!

Pluss I like the look of an edge pollished to a nice mirror finish. :thumbup:
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i'll have to give it a go then...dunno if i'll be able to find stropping compound in Australia but i can order online like everything else.
 
I love stropping. I strop almost every knife except Japanese kitchen knives.
 
Robert.B said:
i'll have to give it a go then...dunno if i'll be able to find stropping compound in Australia but i can order online like everything else.
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you can get stuff at bunnings thats essentially the same. its the stuff you use on a sisal buffing wheel, green compound made by josco.
thats what ive been using and i still get a good result.
 
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