Looking to Get a Strop. Soo many questions

OP: I bought a HD compact leather strop from stropman a week or 2 ago. It's my first strop but i'm already getting decent results. You could buy one of the larger ones but for a pocket knife i think the HD compact is perfectly adequate. a fellow forum member, jdavis828, made a video about it which i'll post below. The other strop jdavis recommends is the knives plus strop block. This one comes preloaded with compound. From what i've heard you can do just fine with only green compound.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wb9x-3q0Esk
 
fatherhudson said:
OP: I bought a HD compact leather strop from stropman a week or 2 ago. It's my first strop but i'm already getting decent results. You could buy one of the larger ones but for a pocket knife i think the HD compact is perfectly adequate. a fellow forum member, jdavis828, made a video about it which i'll post below. The other strop jdavis recommends is the knives plus strop block. This one comes preloaded with compound. From what i've heard you can do just fine with only green compound.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wb9x-3q0Esk
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good advice. I may keep black to bring back a bit. Green for really using it, and red just to make it sexy mirror finish showtime edge. I am either getting Stropmans triad or jre industries black green red plain leather one for at home use.. Great video helped alot. I kind of want to Convex my M390 PM2 a bit for its purposes and keep my Umnumzaan nonconvexed.

That video helps alot though. I am looking into it to see if I can buy 2. (one white green and one black red)
 
If you want to strop with compound I would recommend balsa wood or MDF cut to size....or follow the link in my Sig. If you want to strop with leather I'd recommend taking the time to experience a nice horse hide or kangaroo strop plain with no compound.
 
I'll throw this out there - OP might want to just get some black and white compound from Sears or Dico. Wrap a couple sheets of newspaper around your stone, rub a little compound on it, strop, and throw it away when it loads up. This works very well, saves you some money, and keeps down on the sharpening clutter. Just a thought...
 
HeavyHanded said:
I'll throw this out there - OP might want to just get some black and white compound from Sears or Dico. Wrap a couple sheets of newspaper around your stone, rub a little compound on it, strop, and throw it away when it loads up. This works very well, saves you some money, and keeps down on the sharpening clutter. Just a thought...
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but i like that pocket strop thing, whet stone is big and bulky the strop can be hooked on a belt and touch up whenever i need
 
I clean my strops with sanding sponges, the long 3x8 ones work well then reapply compound and good to go. Grit on the sponges is 220.
 
Chipped Karambit said:
but i like that pocket strop thing, whet stone is big and bulky the strop can be hooked on a belt and touch up whenever i need
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Then wrap it around a small piece of tile or hardwood block. Its easy, consistent, and you can pitch it when it gets loaded. Otherwise you should clean it when it stops performing well or looses its "feel" - indicating its loaded up. They generally look pretty discolored by then - obvious black streaks of steel debris tracked all over the strop. They can continue to perform OK even when somewhat loaded, but they won't give the same results as when they're clean and freshly treated.
 
knifenut1013 said:
If you want to strop with compound I would recommend balsa wood or MDF cut to size....or follow the link in my Sig. If you want to strop with leather I'd recommend taking the time to experience a nice horse hide or kangaroo strop plain with no compound.
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I second that emotion.

I mean, I suppose it depends on the blade, but for all of my knives, I use slick melamine boards cut down to size and loaded with compound sold by Sears (I rarely use any colors except the green and the red).

The melamine's flat and stable, and if you rub it down with a hunk of compound, then wipe off the surface, it feels smooth to the touch, yet gives (me) great cutting and polishing results.

Plus it's durable. You can scrub it with just water and a pots-and-pans sponge to remove metal build-up. As long as you keep all of the board's unlaminated edges dry, it'll stay smooth and flat for ages.
 
Chipped Karambit said:
when should you clean it?
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When you use a strop you can see it slowly get loaded with metal. It'll start turning black. Not very obvious when using black compound but otherwise it's easy to see. For a normal user a decent sized strop might last nearly a lifetime. If you're using it everyday it'll still last quite a while. I can't say exactly how long but i wouldn't worry about it that much. It'll still work until it's completely black with metal residue. When (if) that time comes you might as well buy/make a new one
 
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