Make a strop - Part 1

I believe that is exactly what it is. You usually get it in bars near the grinders/buffers section, or at least that is where I've found it.
 
The color of the compounds has always confused me. I've been using Dico's CR1, chromium paste. It's their finest grit for ferrous metals. How does that compare to the green and black? The CR1 is a reddish-brown color in the tube, though they list it as green in brick form. I haven't been able to find the micron size of CR1. The tubes are about $7 at your local hardware store, and they'll last you forever.

I should probably try the larger grits and see if I can get a better edge than jumping from white ceramic stone to CR1.
 
@ Derek_H:
Aha. Now i know a certain someone who's gonna try to get that little extra bite out of some edges.
So far i've just stropped my knives on dry leather, but i never felt like i got the level of sharpness i wanted. They would shave hair, but not as good as i wanted them to do.

Thanks for clearing that up. I'll get to work on making my own strop as soon as i get the time to do it. I got a bunch of leather and various polishing products laying around so this is gonna be exciting :D

Edit:
Just to clear one more thing up. Using the rough side of the leather makes the stropping less time consuming while the smooth side gives a more rafined edge, a i right? Or am i totaly lost in the woods atm?
If things go as planned i'll be making one beast of a strop, and i don't ant to use all my spare leather on a failed project:P
Better safe than sorry.
 
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DerekH said:
Oops, knew I was forgetting something. I put that chunk of leather on there and never took it off because it worked so darn well. (That is that chunk I told you about that takes something from SHARP to CRAZY STUPID SHARP. Have no idea why either, but it works. Never was able to find sandpaper in the medium to high grits that was long enough to fit. Do you buy full sheets of the higher grit stuff and cut to fit, or is there sets of the good stuff out there that is long enough?

What surprises me is that if I buy one of those, in the sanding section, the sandpaper that has been next to it that comes in the 1/3 sheet strips has never been long enough. That always perplexed me to no end.
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The auto section of small fart or auto supply places have the 3M sheets up to 2500 grit that fit those hand sanders. Usually about three bucks for five sheets.
 
I learned to use the smooth side because you can hear and feel it cut when you're at the right angle. Very light to no pressure on the blade. However, I was at an artisans exhibition a couple of years ago and woodcarvers I saw there were all using the rough side. One would think these boys knew what they were doing because their tools have to be as sharp as humanly possible. The leather was a very fine (almost chamois looking) texture and used no compound. They did strop them often though. Some people only use the rough side for their knives, I just learned it the other way. I think they both work frankly.
 
tradewater said:
I learned to use the smooth side because you can hear and feel it cut when you're at the right angle. Very light to no pressure on the blade.
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This makes me think I have far too much compound on my strop. And I use too much pressure, which is a problem I have with my stones as well.
 
DerekH, thank you for the home done strop idea. I have the wife on the look out for some old cheap leather. I'm definitely doing this.
 
You're definitely welcome man. Stropping really puts a heck of an edge on your knives and when you get 'em good and sharp they work much better. I can't take any credit though, the stuff I've shown was just stuff I've learned from the time I've been here from some of the great folks here. :thumbup:
 
I'm a member of many forums (mostly gun related) and agree this forum in general, and then Becker Knife & Tool subforum in particular, are amazing resources with friendly members. Very welcoming.
 
DerekH said:
You're definitely welcome man. Stropping really puts a heck of an edge on your knives and when you get 'em good and sharp they work much better. I can't take any credit though, the stuff I've shown was just stuff I've learned from the time I've been here from some of the great folks here. :thumbup:
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I don't want to jack this thread, I want to save you guys with questions some time. Soon after I picked up my first Becker (1st quality knife), I figured that I'd better learn to sharpen it (them). I have as much money invested in stones strops and other sharpening gadgets like The Worksharp Knife and Tool Sharpener as I do in knives. In my search for SHARP, I've decided that its made out to be way to complicated. Stone, Hone and Strop, That's it.
Below are a few links that helped me out.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1036649-A-balanced-strop?highlight=balanced+strop
This is a great read with a lot of info! These guys set the bar on sharpening pretty high
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/750008-Stropping-angle-plus-pressure
Great Visual.
 
Thanks for the pointers cschol, that balanced strop one was pretty amazing.

I'm definitely using too much force when I strop. I also scraped off a bunch of the compound from my strop last night. We'll see if I can get a better edge this way.
 
Now I'm thinking I need to try the coarser Dico compounds for ferrous metals. And I need two more strops. The projects never end.
 
Got started on my own strop today.
It's gonna be 4" by 18" (the leather covered part) + the handle. I used 2 component epoxy glue so it'll have to sit under preassure for 24 hrs. I'll post pics of the strop and the process of making it tomorrow.

I gotta say i'm really looking forward to seeing what difference this will make for my knives.
 
Found a scrap of leather and slapped it on a paint stir stick rough side up (carpenter's glue works great) today. Colored some green compound on it and by golly it's the bomb.
Best finishing strop I've ever used. Ludicrously sharp. I'm a convert.



10565237224_e13dc13c96_c.jpg
 
Derek is right about there being a ton of posts about strops. There are extensive discussions about leather, compounds and technique. Derek shows how to make one very economically that will work well with large or small knives.

Here is the update on the strop made from a brush handle. Hey, it's what I had, and I already had a bench strop. So something smaller was OK for me.

strop_zpsde01f796.jpg
 
Well, last night I didn't have much going on so I went back to the strop I made in this thread and noticed some issues. First, I did have too much compound, such that the knife was really skating along the waxy surface more so than actually abrading the edge to sharpen. I also noticed a weird skipping which, as it turns out, matched up perfectly with the odd texturing that was on the leather belt I was using. Simple fix for both issues, I took a sanding block to it again for quite awhile until I had removed the compound, and to where I wasn't getting the odd skipping when dragging the knife on the surface of the strop. Once that was done, I applied a very moderate amount of black compound, and after a few test hits it seems to be working great. Still have some leather left and a few paint sticks so I might make a couple more short ones to use. More pics as that happens.
 
So I'm using an 8000 grit stone to finish my blades. Do you think a strop would be beneficial to my edge?
 
If you forget your strop at home (you made a small one to keep in your pack, right? ;) ), chances are you already have one on your hip.

The finished welt/edge of a leather sheath makes an excellent strop for final honing and quick touch-ups, even without compound. Although smearing a little compound on it certainly won't hurt.

The edge of a kydex sheath will work too, but I don't think it gets blades quite as sharp as leather.

Honestly, almost anything will work in a pinch... some folks are in the habit of simply stropping their blade on their pant leg often, as they use it. The piece of (whatever) you're whittling/cutting will work, too... as Tradewater said at the last Gathering, "If it dulls your knife, it'll sharpen your knife."
 
Great tutorial Derek, just finished mine up and waiting for the glue to dry. Used one of the wife's old belts (at least I hope it was an old one ;) ) with the smooth side up. Hope to try my hand at stroping tonight. Is there gonna be a part 2 to this tutorial? Tips and tricks? I've been watching YouTube videos and searching this site on strops so far, but it'd be nice to get some feedback from the people on this forum. Thanks!
 
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