Leather Strop Question

[ricklee4570]

For the ultimate in a razor sharp edge, how much of a difference (if any) would one see when going from the ultra fine stones (Spyderco Sharpmaker) to a leather strop with white rouge?

 

[EyeDog]

I use the Bark River black and brown sticks to finish off all of my sharpening. I use wet stones and freehand rather than a rod or guided system. However, stropping may be the most important step in getting the perfect edge. For many of my knives that's all I do--I strop my daily use knives almost everyday to keep the edge.

Spend some time here in the threads to learn the best stropping materials and techniques.

Mike

 

[wiredbeans]

I use the same. The purpose of Stropping is to straighten/removing micro burs. Overdone it then you will actually dull it up.
The white compound is more for fine polishing and its usually used after green emery or yellow tripoli.
The white compound is normally used to polish soft metals in jewelry making followed with red rouge to a mirror finish.
Use the green emery first and then the white to save you time if you are going for the mirrored edge, but I find the results from just using the green will give you a mirror enough finish

 

[duxbellorum]

I used to strop on leather, but found that I didn't like the convexing effect it had on my edges.

I now strop exclusively on long grain pine boards that have been planed and sanded perfectly flat. I get a more even stropping surface and I get much better control over the convexing near the edge.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

If the 'white rouge' is aluminum oxide as many are, it'll work fine (or even great) for steel. Some hardware store varieties will actually be labelled for 'cleaning' or polishing hard metals, including stainless steels. Also, it may or may not be finer than green or other fine compounds; there's a lot of variation in grit sizes and even abrasive types in 'white' compounds. The type usually reserved for soft metals is made of tin oxide (sometimes ambiguously called 'white diamond' compound), which is MUCH softer than aluminum oxide.

My favorite stropping compound is a white rouge in aluminum oxide, at ~2-5µ particle size (larger and much more aggressive than green compounds). Works great for stripping away tenacious burrs (I use it on denim or linen, over a hard backing), and will also polish very quickly on most common cutlery steels, up to and including D2.

Best way to know if it'll work well following the UF Spyderco hones, is to try it. I'd STRONGLY recommend using as firm a stropping substrate as possible, because AlOx white rouge works quite aggressively, and can quickly overpolish or round off an edge, if used on too soft a backing, or with poor technique. A stropping substrate that's very firm, like fabric (denim, linen) over hard wood will leave edges much crisper and even sharper, if used smartly.


David

 

[wiredbeans]

That's awesome info ! have to try the canvas over hard surface now.

 

[Neko2]

I used a scrap of old blue jeans glued to a large paint stick (for the 5 gallon buckets) that's free at the big home improvement store. I used some red and some chromium oxide green and it works really well on my whittling knives.

 

[David Martin]

rick, going to the white rouge loaded on a strop-- (which I think is aluminum oxide) you should see the sharpness picked up a full step when shaving. I load the green on my strop and give it a 100 or 200 passes and I like the quality of the shave better coming off that stone plus stropping. DM