Is it possible to strop too much?

M

morati

Joined
Oct 21, 2008
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Gentlemen, I have been using my Gatco/DMT sharpening systems with great success lately and have been able to get my knives "hair popping" sharp. I usually finish off my sharpening routine on each knife by stropping with a .5 micron abrasive worked into the leather. My question is this....
Is it possible to strop an edge too much? I am thinking the answer is NO and that the edge will just become more and more pollished for easier push cuts. However, on one of my knives (a CR Small Sebenza) it seems that I get to a point of diminishing returns. The more I strop this knive, the worse off it becomes.
Your thoughts here would be greatly appreciated.......
 
I know it's possible to over sharpen an edge, so why wouldn't it be possible to over strop it?
 
Yes, it is very possible.
Stropping is designed to:
Work any burr off the blade, or:
Polish the edge.
Once either of these things are accomplished, over-stropping will round the edge-especially if you are using an abrasive.
 
I'll take a guess at this one.

First, If your hold is true, I don't see how you could over-sharpen a knife. Perfect geometry would simply reduce the size (amount) of the blade, keeping a perfect edge.

As for stropping, I'd suspect that if you're off on your hold by as little as say, 1 degree, a few passes over the strop wouldn't be noticed. Repeatedly stropping at an angle different than your bevel could polish off the edge.

I dunno...makes a little sense to me!

EDIT: Thanks Bill. I was still getting my thoughts together while you answered the question!
 
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When stropping on a soft surface like leather it will depress slightly creating a convex sharpening surface. If you are off even slightly in your angle it only takes one pass on the strop to ruin what you have worked so hard for. If you are sharpening at 20deg. then strop at 18, it will take longer but you have less of a chance of rounding the edge. I have never over stropped a blade but I have rounded the edge a few times. I started using diamond paste on MDF board for my strop and the results are much better, I highly recemmond it.
 
morati said:
Gentlemen, I have been using my Gatco/DMT sharpening systems with great success lately and have been able to get my knives "hair popping" sharp. I usually finish off my sharpening routine on each knife by stropping with a .5 micron abrasive worked into the leather. My question is this....
Is it possible to strop an edge too much? I am thinking the answer is NO and that the edge will just become more and more pollished for easier push cuts. However, on one of my knives (a CR Small Sebenza) it seems that I get to a point of diminishing returns. The more I strop this knive, the worse off it becomes.
Your thoughts here would be greatly appreciated.......
Click to expand...

Answer is yes. Even more - most actually round edge in this stage making it duller and duller. This is why it was so popular "common knowledge" that polished edge did not cut well and long - simple because people round edge over stropping and dull it. It take some skill to make right polish - keep right angle and keep low pressure so leather will not bend under edge - depression in the lether make edge round.

This is probably what you are experiencing. This is what I experienced until I learn how to do it right. Indication of properly polished edge - whitteling hair. If you able to whittle hair then you edge is not rounded.

However if you are doing this right, more polish - better edge.

Thanks, Vassili.
 
I seem to always run into this problem...I think I can get the edge just a little more polished and it goes away :confused:. Then I have to start over again.
 
safetyman said:
I seem to always run into this problem...I think I can get the edge just a little more polished and it goes away :confused:. Then I have to start over again.
Click to expand...

No pressure try to keep angle even lower so if leather bend it will not round edge. But if you round it up - you have to go back to flat hard surface stone.

Use thin leather with stretched over flat surface, not glued. I use Green rouge and add thick layer if it, also you need to heat it up little bit - I use 120 indoor flood light GE bulb.

see my video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TscN9h-1xQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EP9tII6Tp7s

Thanks, Vassili.
 
Excellent info Guys. I tried the "clay paper" method tonight using the cover of a phone book. It DOES seem to work well just going by feel. Need a better way to measure the resistance behind the blade when slicing though.
 
Rather than risking the rounding of the edge by using a 'soft' strop, try putting the polishing compound on a piece of wood or MDF and stropping on that.

Another option is to make a wooden model of a DMT hone, coat with paste, and put it in the DMT holder for a final polish. This keeps the angle and produces a very sharp edge.

To check progress, fold up an edge of the page of a phone book about 1/4-3/8 inch wide and push cut straight down.

Greg
 
I have been working/using knives for about 45 years or so and really learned how to sharpen about 10 or 12 years ago. An article by Wayne Goddard in Blade Magazine and a book by John Juranicth on knife sharpening changed every thing to where I could really sharpen knives. Things like proper bevel and thinning the edge and creating a burr and then removing the burr to have a sharp edge. Also, stropping to smooth the edge and remove a burr and realign the edge. I use a strop I bought from Knives Plus several years a go and IT WORKS! It is the best strop I have tried. I think if you strop too much you wind up with an extremely polished edge which is very sharp but will not have enough abrasive in in the edge to slice well but will push cut very well. Folks, this is just my experience and I am trying to help. BTW, you have to be carefull are you will roll the edge when stropping. When you strop you should work on side of the knife at a time with equal strokes or go from side to side by moving the knife from edge to the back of the blade to the other side. If you go directly from edge to edge you will roll the edge. And you want to strop at a slightly higher angle than you have been sharpening on the Whetstone. Good luck because a real sharp edge gives you a sense of accomplishment and a sharp knife is a joy to use.

RKH
 
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