leather strops for rc-3/-4/-5?

B

Big_Mack

Joined
Jan 24, 2008
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i'm interested in learning to use a leather strop for my blades - i usually sharpen by hand using a DMT stone. on derrick's site - it mentions compound and the strops are for convex grinds, but all my rc/esee are flat ground (or sabre for the -5). do i need compound?
should i even be using a strop? my understanding is that a strop maintains a sharper edge - am i misguided?
 
Im deffinitely not a stroping expert but I feel like stroping a blade of any type of grind is a benefit, and you dont necessarily have to use compound, although it will greatly increase youre results. The strop can help maintain an edge that has been slightly rolled it can also make an already sharp knife even sharper. The biggest benefit Ive found is that once I get my knives sharp on a sharpmaker or by hand grinding them that by using a strop I dont have to sharpen it quite as frequently, meaning that I take less metal off over time and that I get more use out of my knife.
Hope that helps.
rwasham
 
I made a stiff strop by gluing a piece of smooth veg tanned leather to a board.
I use this to polish my chisels and other woodworking tools, plus taking the wire edge off kitchen and hunting knives.
my wife has a strop made of suede glued to a wood block with different curves and bevels for sharpening carving tools. she uses a yellow compound, I use red rouge.
 
You don't need compound but it will speed up the process. I have a two sided bench strop. One side is loaded with green Chromium Oxide, the other is bare leather. I just started stroping and I can't believe the difference in my edges.
 
I'm told by a very reliable sharpening source, that in most cases, all that is needed for a well maintained edge is a little stropping.
Here are a couple I made, my home, and my fiield "mini strop".

ministrop003.jpg
 
Just do it! ;-)
Even without compound.
You' will amazed how a well heat treated carbon steel blade can get razorsharp easily.
 
That's how I got my 1st Izula to pop hairs - stropped the daylights out of it.

The mailman came today with my new Izula - won't cut a hair but he also brought me a new RC-4 and that and my RC-3 both shaved hair, out of the box!

I'm po'ed now, I've been asking for a non-coated Rat Izula in that thread awhile back and now they're going to make one!

Oh well, you can always use more Izulas!! :D

Use that strop it really works great for polishing the edge.
 
I thought I had sharp knives, but then I started using a strop after touching up on the sharpmaker and now I have extremely sharp knives (it scares the hair off my arm). I use the double sided strop with the bark river compound that KSF sells, works great. Stropping works for non-convexed edges as well, so no worries there.
 
Here is a strop that I made. It has plain leather on one side, and the side shown is loaded with CrO. I also have a leather belt on my belt sander that works great.
IMG_0666.jpg

The Izula shown has a convex edge, but any edge can benefit from a strop.
 
I use the large strop that www.knivesshipfree.com sells. It's been great, and it's a decent size also. It's 2 sided due to the fact that I use 2 different compounds. I use the green and grey compounds that they sell also, and the strop takes them right up. Between using the fine grit sandpaper and the strop, I've been able to get my ESEE's so friggin' sharp, it's almost scary.
 
I stop all my blades to keep them sharp and seldom need to do more. A cheap but very efficient leather strop can be made with little effort or cost. I use a long (arm's length) strip of leather (http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/home/department/Belts/4523-190.aspx?feature=Product_4) with green compound. Sand the rough side to remove the bumps and make it flat, then apply green compound to it. That's it. To use, place it on the edge of a table, use the side with the compound first, then turn it over to finish on the other side. Store it hanging from a nail on the wall, to keep it flat.
 
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