Maintenance stropping

[sjhong]

Every two days or so, my EDC knife (currently, an XM-18) loses its razor sharpness and I strop it on hard smooth cardboard (the back of a notepad). I do about 20 passes each side, 10 a little hard and 10 very light (just the weight of the blade).

My imagination or not, the knife feels a lot better after that. Am I right in doing so? Am I actually maintaining my knife sharp or is it just my imagination (like when a car seems to run more smooth after you wash it?)?

 

[oronocova]

I'd say it's probably not your imagination if you can feel a difference. I usually touch mine up on a leather strop in similar fashion if I have used it much that day. You could make your own strop out of a scrap piece of wood, a worn out leather belt, and some polishing compound. It should out preform the cardboard I would think.

 

[Jason B.]

The cardboard is working but doing a ok job at best. There is a lot of abrasive material within cardboard but not all the same size. It is doing light polishing to the edge, removing burrs and high spots and restoring some of the sharpness the edge had before the cutting action. Because your knife is made of a higher grade steel the effects of the cardboard will be minimal and slow compared to a proper abrasive and strop.

Balsa, MDF, hardwood, leather, hard felt, even paper can be coated with a honing abrasive. The resulting finish and sharpness it night and day from the way you are doing it now.

It will have its effects to a point on a factory edge but you will need to sharpen the edge for best results. I would also suggest diamond spray or paste for your strop abrasive. It will have a greater effect on your steel.

 

[ricklee4570]

Cardboard works great on the lower quality knives. My leatherman gets razor sharp with about 20 strokes on the edge of a cardboard box--if I dont let it get too dull before stropping.

Of course we are talking 420J steel too.